May 2013
The May 2013 issue of The SAIS Observer is embedded below.
Content includes:
-Photo essays from North Korea, the Vietnam International Staff Ride, and the Wall Walk in Nanjing
-An introduction to Bologna’s most fascinating resident, Signora Anna
-Sexual Assault Awareness Month
-The SAIS Asia Conference
-The Global Women in Leadership Conference
-Profiles of marathoners at SAIS
The issue is also available as a PDF:
Comments, submissions, or letters to the editor are welcome!
May 2013 Photo Essay: Vietnam International Staff Ride
Another sneak peek at our upcoming May issue! Since 2000, the Strategic Studies department has held staff rides around the world so that students can witness historical sites, museums, and military operations in person. Students also gain leadership and decision-making skills that are valuable both inside and outside the field of strategic studies. The 2013 International Staff Ride, “The Tet Offensive,” took place in several cities in Vietnam. The following photos, compiled by editor Jack Bianchi, are courtesy of Eric Lindsey and Steve Farole.
(You can read more about the staff ride at http://isr2013.com.)
Ha Long Bay (Eric Lindsey)
Bobby Strauss, Kelly Johnson, Annie Seibert, Marisa Sullivan, and others relax during a chartered cruise of Ha Long Bay. (Eric Lindsey)
Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Annibale, a Marine officer and MIPP student, describes the Marines’ brutal fight to retake the ancient Vietnamese city of Hue. (Eric Lindsey)
The International Staff Ride group listens to a presentation at Khe Sanh. (Steve Farole)
Khe Sanh, site of a Marine Combat Base that was besieged by the North Vietnamese for seventy-seven days. (Eric Lindsey)
May 2013 Photo Essay: HNC in North Korea
Here’s a sneak peek of our upcoming May issue! In early April, a group of students and a professor from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center visited North Korea. They left Beijing April 9th and returned April 16th. Below are photos from behind the wall, courtesy of Hopkins-Nanjing Center student Natalie Sammarco.
(Read more about Natalie’s experiences in China and North Korea on the Hopkins-Nanjing Center Admissions Blog.)
Colonel Kim at a watchtower along the border of North and South Korea. Much of the land in the background is a minefield located in the Demilitarized Zone.
This North Korean water bottling plant uses recycled materials, so not all the bottles are the same.
Statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on the National Holiday (Kim Il-sung’s birthday, April 15th).
Statues of soldiers near the statues of the leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
The “Tower of Juche Idea,” which represents Korean nationalism and self-reliance, looks over the River Taedong.
Natalie Sammarco poses at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
April 2013 Photo Essay: Spring Fever in Washington
Spring is a colorful season in Washington, D.C., as the sidewalks become lined with flowers and the city celebrates the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival. Cristina Garafola, Tongda Qu, Kai Jiun Wong, and Paul Garr share photos from the White House, the Tidal Basin, and the Nitze and Rome buildings.
Kai Jiun Wong, Paul and Phyllis Nitze Building, Massachusetts Avenue
Kai Jiun Wong, Rome Building, Massachusetts Avenue
Cristina Garafola, Jefferson Memorial, Tidal Basin
Cristina Garafola, Spring Garden Tour, The White House
Tongda Qu, Jefferson Memorial, Tidal Basin
April 2013 Photo Essay: Austrian Ball
In our April 2013 issue, Nimisha Jaiswal shared a glimpse of the annual Austrian Ball in Bologna:
Every year during the Austrian Ball season, students from SAIS Bologna are invited to Vienna to attend the International Atomic Energy Agency Ball at the Hofberg Imperial Palace. Keeping up the tradition, the largest known group of Bolognesi left for Vienna on 15 February, 2013.
The festivities started immediately, with a day-long bus ride through the gorgeous Italian and Austrian countrysides. The long trip failed to deter the group from turning out in their evening best for kick-off drinks at the Palmenhaus, where we were welcomed officially by Prof. Neudeck of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. While some decided to set off to explore the Viennese nightlife, others headed back to get some much-needed rest before the big day.
After a morning of squeezing in quick sightseeing tours (along with hair and makeup appointments), we were received at the Rathaus (City Hall) by Dr. Andreas Mailhath-Pokorny, a Bologna Center alumnus and Vienna City Council member. Resplendent in tuxedos and evening gowns, the group then proceeded to the Heldenplatz Plaza and the Hofberg Palace, where we could use our newly-acquired quadrille and waltz skills in the Main Hall, or visit the many different rooms in the palace to dance to music ranging from salsa to hip hop.
After dancing until 4 a.m., most of us still managed to defeat our exhaustion to explore the city’s many attractions on Sunday before inevitably collapsing on the bus for the long overnight journey back to Bologna. While it probably took the better part of the week to get back to study-mode, I could safely assume this whirlwind weekend was amongst our most fantastic experiences.
Tendai Madenyika and Marwa Abdou shared photos from the event:
Couples dance the waltz in the Main Hall of the Hofsburg Palace.
Vienna State Ballet dancers Maria Yakovleva and Kirill Kurlyaev perform “Mashkovsky Waltz” by Moritz Moszkowski.
The Main Hall during a performance in the evening.
Akhila Raman, Michelle Thompson, Hanna Rebecca Broder and Kate Maxwell
April 2013
The April 2013 issue of The SAIS Observer is embedded below.
Content includes:
-The Austrian Ball at the Bologna Center
-Agriculture Policy Studies at SAIS
-Debates on democracy in China
-Profiles of returned Peace Corps volunteers
-Opinion pieces on study space, digital distractions, first-year professors, and career pressure
The issue is also available as a PDF:
Comments, submissions, or letters to the editor are welcome!
February 2013 Photo Essay: Myanmar
Over winter break, Cristina Garafola and several SAIS classmates traveled to Myanmar, where they studied Burmese intensively and met with political and economic actors engaged in reform efforts. Cristina’s photos, and an interview with Southeast Asia Studies concentrator Anne Gillman, are featured in our February 2013 issue.
Cristina’s frequently-updated personal blog, China on the Rise, features content related to current events in China. You can also read about her experiences at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center from 2011 to 2012.
