The theoretical and the practical

SAIS Bologna students appreciate the mix of academics and practitioners who make up the faculty.

The faculty's expertise spans the theoretical and the practical, and gives students the grounding they need to make their mark on the world.

Prof. David Unger

David Unger brings a special perspective to SAIS Bologna.

Prof. Unger has been an editorial writer at the New York Times for more than three decades. Since 1977 he has written by his own count more than 3,000 editorials in the newspaper.

Now he has written a book entitled "The Emergency State: America's Pursuit of Absolute National Security at All Costs".

"The emergency state is what we use instead of the Constitution in emergencies. And we keep using more and more of it, for example undeclared wars, for example classified information that Congress cannot debate. It has really unbalanced our constitutional system," he told U.S. television station CBS.

In writing the book, Prof. Unger discovered that the emergency state is hardly a new phenomenon.

"This goes way back, and this is what I really learned doing the book. Because it was all the rage to talk about Bush and Cheney and unconstitutional, but very little of what they did was brand new. They put their signature on it, no doubt about it, but it goes back to FDR, it goes back to before Pearl Harbor when he was trying to get the United States into the Atlantic war and bypass Congress and public opinion on that."

To listen to Prof. Unger discuss his book with CBS News, click here.

To hear Prof. Unger in person, come take a class from him at SAIS Bologna. Last term he taught "Policies and Politics of the American Emergency State".

Nelson Graves

What's new? A blog and a catalog

Here are two sources of information on SAIS that you may find useful and even entertaining.

A new blog

First, our colleagues at SAIS DC have launched a blog. You will find theirs a bit different from ours -- here's to diversity -- but similar because it, too, gives voice to students' views and provides practical information, in a friendly way, on applying.

We would encourage prospective applicants to keep tabs on both blogs. Almost all SAIS Bologna students end up spending time studying in Washington before graduating from SAIS, and so it's important for applicants to the Bologna Center to know what goes on in DC.

Permit me to remind our readers that the SAIS Bologna and SAIS DC Admissions offices handle different pools of applications:

• All U.S. citizens, as well as non-U.S.citizens wishing to start their studies in Washington, have their applications managed by SAIS DC.
• Non-U.S. citizens who want to start in Bologna have their application managed by SAIS Bologna.

We broached the complicated issue of one program/two Admissions offices in a recent post. If you have questions on the different procedures, you can always drop us a line at admissions@jhubc.it.

A new catalog

The second new source of information is SAIS Bologna's  academic catalog. If you are considering applying to SAIS Bologna, you might want to download the catalog so you can refer to it from time to time.

The catalog includes information on a range of subjects:

• SAIS Bologna life
• SAIS Bologna services
• Admissions
• Degrees
• Curriculum
• Faculty

Academic catalogs have come a long way from my days as a student (OK -- keep your comments to yourselves). Back in those days, the catalog was a hefty and colorless tome that included fine print on the courses, a word or two on intellectual honesty and, if you were lucky, an academic calendar.

We think the new SAIS Bologna catalog tackles a greater range of issues and gives a more rounded picture of our institution than the run-of-the mill brochure.

(I can hear your question: Why are you publishing the 2011-12 academic catalog now? Here's the short answer: It takes time to edit, synthesize, cut down the number of pages and save trees!)

Last thing: Some of you may have noticed that we have launched a Twitter feed called @SAISBolognaBlog. To follow it, click on this icon in the upper right-hand section of the blog:

Nelson Graves

"La Rivista": Another glimpse into SAIS Bologna

Here's another window on life at SAIS Bologna: La Rivista magazine.

The latest edition -- available online here -- is a special issue that explores the 150 years of Italian unity. If you're interested in learning more about Italy and what goes on at the Bologna Center, it's worth a look.

The four pieces on Italy's 150th anniversary as a nation-state include three by SAIS Bologna professors (Adrian Lyttelton, Vera Negri Zamagni, Gianfranco Pasquino) and a fourth by Federiga Bindi, who is a senior fellow at SAIS's Center for Transatlantic Relations.

Here is Lyttelton on Italy's ambivalence towards its own birthday: "Why is the existence of Italy as a nation-state more subject to criticism than it was at the time of the 50th or 100th anniversaries?"

(Remember the photo of Garibaldi that we featured in last week's quiz? It came from Lyttleton's article.)

Negri Zamagni explores Italy's economic history and concludes: "Italy is now at a crossroads. What is badly needed is a government that has the courage to launch new infrastructure projects, make critical changes in public administration, revitalize innovation and improve the labor market."

Of course the jury is out as to whether the new prime minister, Mario Monti, will be able to do as much.

Last May we published a post on Alumni Weekend that included a video with Prof. John Harper discussing his 30 years at SAIS Bologna. La Rivista prints an abridged version of that talk in which Harper said: "The Center is a bit like the legendary Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo. Someone said that if you sat in the lobby long enough you'd see all the famous people of the age."

Vera Negri Zamagni

Other articles include reflections by second-year SAIS student Lu Zhang, a feature on Bologna's cuisine by second-year student Elizabeth Hegedus-Berthold and an interview with Prof. Winrich Kühne, whom we featured in a recent Dewar's profile.

A list of books and other publications by faculty take up an entire page (page 23) and include new titles written by a half dozen professors teaching at SAIS Bologna this term: Harper, Pasquino, Erik Jones, Stefano Zamagni, Richard Pomfret and David Unger.

(Disclosure: Lyttleton, Harper, Pasquino and Pomfret all taught me when I was a student at SAIS Bologna three decades ago. Seems like yesterday.)

Nelson Graves

Meet Prof. Mark Gilbert

History. How old fashioned, right?

Well, no.

Just try to make sense of what is happening in the euro zone without knowing some history. How many of you are convinced you have a firm understanding of how the Arab Spring came about without some knowledge of history?

As SAIS, there is no history concentration per se. History is intertwined with just about everything that is studied. It is a thread that stretches through every concentration.

Prof. Mark Gilbert grew up near Lincoln in England. He teaches intellectual and political history at SAIS Bologna. He is the latest professor to be profiled in this blog.

What courses are you teaching?
"Intellectuals & Politics" and "The End of European Imperialism" in the Fall Semester; "Peace & War" and "Europe in the Cold War" in the Spring Semester

Your degrees?
BA in Politics from Durham University; Ph.D in contemporary history from the University of Wales

Where have you taught?
Dickinson College (Pennsylvania), University of Bath (UK), University of Trento (Italy)

How long have you been teaching at SAIS Bologna?
Since 1999 as an adjunct at varous times; since September 2010 as a full-time member of staff

A link to a recent publication/oped/academic work by you?
http://www.amazon.com/European-Integration-Mark-F-Gilbert/dp/0742566641

Anything special about SAIS Bologna?
The sense of community, definitely. And not just between current faculty and students. The alumni really care about the Center's future and are a pleasure to meet.

Anything special about Bologna?
The warmth and generosity of the Bolognesi, which belongs to another age. The reds and ochres of the walls at sunset. Mind you, it is less clean and tidy than it used to be.

Your favorite book?
"War and Peace" or "Homage to Catalonia". I can never decide between the two. Anything by Tom Wolfe. Jane Austen, C.P. Snow, Tolkien, Leonardo Sciascia's "Candido", Vaclav Havel. Biographies. The first volume of Robert Skidelsky's biography of Keynes is a marvel. So is Michael Ignatieff's biography of Isaiah Berlin, which is a book I should have loved to have written myself.  

Hobbies?
Mountain walking, snowshoeing, listening to jazz, theatre, squash before my knees caved in, cycling since. Travelling, of course.

A quote?
I'm doing this from memory, but Giovanni Guareschi, the author of the Don Camillo stories, says somewhere that "people in the city rush everywhere, hastening to save every single second and don't realize they are throwing a lifetime away." I think this is true and it is worse now than when he was writing (the 1950s).

Meet Prof. Winrich Kühne

SAIS professors are academics, practitioners or both. Today we introduce you to Winrich Kühne, a practitioner par excellence who has a Ph.D and a publishing record to boot.

The latest edition of La Rivista has an interview with Kühne, who is the Steven Muller Professor in German Studies. The article lists some of his many accomplishments: founder and former director of the German Center for International Peace Operations in Berlin; longtime consultant to the German parliament and government; senior adviser to the European Union's former Crisis Prevention Network; member of the international advisory board of the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations' Lessons Learned Unit; a member of election observer missions in Namibia, Malawi, Angola, Mozambique and South Africa.

Kühne is too modest to mention it, but in 2009 SAIS Bologna students awarded him, together with Thomas Row, the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award.

----------------------

What course are you teaching?
Two courses: "War, Conflict, State Failure and Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa" and "Theory and Practice of Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding". In the courses I link academic teaching very much with real life experience in the field.

Your degrees?
Ph.D in International Law, University of Munich and Tuebingen, Germany

Where have you taught?
My work experience is much more important than my teaching although I taught at the University of Munich for a while and lectured at many German and international academies as well as research and training institutes.

Important stages of my working life:

• Director of the German Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) 2002-2009
• Deputy Director of the German Think Tank Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) 1995-2002; before I was head of its Africa Department
• many field trips to Africa and other places where conflicts were going on or in the process of being managed or even resolved.

How long have you been teaching at SAIS Bologna?
Since 1991 after former SAIS Bologna Director Steve Low recruited me at a Winston House conference near London. As I enjoyed the Center, the students and the staff so much, not to mention beautiful Bologna, I kept returning although it was not easy in certain phases of my professional life to harmonize the Bologna schedule with tough professional demands, in particular the development of the German Peacekeeping Training Center.

A link to a recent publication/oped/academic work by you?
"Peace Operations and Peacebuilding in the Transatlantic Dialogue" (2009)

Anything special about SAIS Bologna?
Great place to teach and to learn!

Anything special about Bologna?
After more than 20 years I still love walking around between teaching hours and exploring its many picturesque "stradine" and corners.

Your favorite book?
Oh God, there is more than one...

Hobby?
Tennis, skiing and being idle whenever possible

A quote?
"While we are planning life it is doing something else." One of my favorite quotes which I learned in Africa.

Meeting our faculty: Prof. Jones

Erik Jones is professor of European Studies at SAIS Bologna. He is also the director of the new Bologna Institute for Policy Research (BIPR).

One of the most viewed posts in this blog's 10 months of existence is a video chat with Prof. Jones in which he discussed the interviews that we conduct with all applicants. You might enjoy watching it.

While you're at it, check out Prof. Jones's work on the eurobond proposal.

Your degrees?
AB, Princeton
MA and PhD, SAIS

What courses are you teaching?
West European Political Economies, Central and East European Political Economies, Risk in the International Political Economy, European Research Seminar

Where have you taught?
Central European University, University of Nottingham, SAIS Bologna Center

How long have you been teaching at SAIS Bologna?
Since February 2001 – in residence since September 2002

A link to a recent publication/oped/academic work by you?
See http://www.jhubc.it/facultypages/ejones for publications

Anything special about SAIS Bologna?
The community atmosphere. I don’t know any place that has as tightly knit a group of students and scholars as we do.

Anything special about Bologna?
The combination of young and old. You have about 100,000 university students living and studying in a place that has a 900 year old university.

Your favorite book?
If you want fiction, then I read a lot of junky sci-fi (Robert Heinlein) and fantasy (Robert Jordan). My reading age varies between 13 and 16. I read the Game of Thrones books in about a month. I am now working on a series by David Weber. If you want non-fiction, then I would probably go with Richard Bookstaber’s Demon of Our Own Design or Robert Schiller and George Akerloff’s Animal Spirits. But I also enjoy books on US foreign policy and am working my way (slowly) through the various Republican candidates.

Hobby?
I like to swim, either long-course or open water. Sometimes I get afraid of what else might be in the open water – particularly when I cannot see the bottom.

A quote?
Churchill was pretty good with the one-liners. Take your pick.


Nelson Graves

Open Day: A chance to see SAIS Bologna for yourself

On December 9, SAIS Bologna will open its doors to prospective applicants.

The day-long event will give visitors the chance to learn more about SAIS by meeting students and faculty; attending classes and lectures, and visiting Bologna.

Register now for Open Day on Dec 9

Traditionally current students provide accommodation for the visitors. Send us an email if you’d like to experience bolognese hospitality. You'll have an opportunity to gather more information about SAIS while saving money on accommodation.

Click here to view the schedule and to register.

If you can’t make it to Open Day because you have commitments or you live too far away from Bologna, there are other ways to learn more about SAIS:

• We'll be at APSIA fairs in the next two weeks: Vienna (Nov 2), Geneva (Nov 3), Madrid (Nov 5), Paris (Nov 7)

• We'll be holding online information sessions in November and December. The next one will be on November 22 at 7 pm Italy time (1800 GMT). Send us a message if you'd like to participate. As always, you are also welcome to contact us via Skype (jhubc.admissions) or telephone (+39 051 29 17 811).

Byron Sacharidis, a current student from Greece, attended Open Day last year. Here in his words is what Open Day meant to him.

Byron Sacharidis

With the spotlight on the statement of aims, letters of recommendation and standardized test scores, it is very easy to overlook the practical benefit of a school visit. In my case, I am glad I registered for Open Day last winter because it helped confirm my interest in SAIS and strengthened my motivation to apply for graduate studies.

The event was carefully planned and made a good impression. Having been offered accommodation by a current student, a notable part of the culture here in Bologna, I had the chance to familiarize myself with student life in ways that no site or brochure could convey. Right away, the feeling of belonging and the discovery of a rare, close-knit community, where diversity and camaraderie thrive, fueled my enthusiasm about what this beautiful city has to offer.

From last year's Open Day

After a warm welcome, we were offered a session where we could pose questions and discuss issues with school representatives and staff. This was a good opportunity to ask what I would hesitate asking over the phone or via email. What is more, during a lecture I was happy to discover first hand the accessibility of my professors-to-be. I got a taste of how classes felt and appreciated the two-fold teaching approach: some classes are lecture-based and others are seminars. The day could not have ended better than with a happy hour at Giuglio’s Bar, where I relaxed and reassessed my overall impressions and the vibes I had got during the day, while getting caught up in interesting debates with students.

Memorable, but above all useful in many different ways, Open Day ended up playing a decisive role in my search for graduate school by putting things into perspective. I encourage you to take the plunge and see for yourself.

Amina Abdiuahab

Meet Prof. Gianfranco Pasquino

What course are you teaching?

Contemporary Italian Politics (Fall semester)

Political Systems of the Developing World (Spring semester)

Your degrees?

SAIS, MA in International Relations, 1967 (very proud of it)

Where have you taught?

U. of Bologna, U. of Florence, UCLA, SAIS DC, SAIS Bologna Center since, at least, 1976

How long have you been teaching at SAIS Bologna?

Hence, about 35 years

A link to a recent publication/oped/academic work by you?

My University of Bologna Profile: http://www.unibo.it/docenti/gianfranco.pasquino

Anything special about SAIS Bologna?

Exceptional: it changed my life. I am a SAIS Bologna alumnus from 1966.

Anything special about Bologna?

Small and beautiful with a great University (and the Bologna Center)

Your favorite book?

"Auto da fé," by Elias Canetti

Hobby?

I am a moviegoer.

A quote

"Il cielo stellato sopra di me; la mia coscienza in me." - Immanuel Kant