By Will Marshall February 7, 2020 BOLOGNA, Italy - Students of Professor Michael Leigh’s Fall 2019 course, The European Union: Integration or Disintegration?, were treated to a taste of the painstaking process surrounding the Brexit negotiations through an in-class simulation over the course of two weeks which included a working dinner at the professor’s home…
Author: The SAIS Observer Staff
Italy’s Sardine Send Salvini Packing from Emilia-Romagna
By Zoe Mize BOLOGNA, Italy – On 26 January, the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, the home of Ferrari cars, Parmesan ham and SAIS Europe’s Bologna campus, held a hotly contested regional election. Right-wing Lega (League) candidate Lucia Borgonzoni lost the regional presidency to Democratic Party (PD) incumbent Stefano Bonaccini by a margin of 7%. A…
Continue reading ➞ Italy’s Sardine Send Salvini Packing from Emilia-Romagna
Unverified results from field tests in dating Italians
By Michael Hall February 6, 2020 BOLOGNA, Italy — Alluringly dark hair, curly or straight, has the healthy bounce of Pantene commercials. Chiseled jawlines and slender silhouettes defy contemporary belief that carbohydrates induce unsightly weight gain. Their spoken language thrillingly plunges and effortlessly rises, accompanied by the corporal movements that elicit a sense of belonging.…
Continue reading ➞ Unverified results from field tests in dating Italians
Political activism and social media: Friends or foes?
By Mohit Mann November 28, 2019 Flag waving at the DNC on Thursday night. retrieved from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/number7cloud/28015080104. Author: Lorie Shaull. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) At this year’s annual summit for the Obama Foundation, former U.S. President Barack Obama addressed issues regarding civic engagement in the United States. Major news outlets covering the summit…
Continue reading ➞ Political activism and social media: Friends or foes?
Fall Staff Ride: A SAIS Observer perspective
By Dennis Murphy, Hannah Dennis, Alexander Kessler, Nikole Ottolia The Fall Staff Ride (FSR) was held over the last weekend of October. Each year, the Strategic Studies department organizes fall, spring, and international staff rides. This is a practice rooted in the military orientation of the Strategic Studies department – which means it can likely…
Continue reading ➞ Fall Staff Ride: A SAIS Observer perspective
The role of women in peacemaking: The case of Northern Ireland
By Sarah Aver WASHINGTON, D.C. — From their leading role during the civil rights movement to their political activism, women’s contribution to peace-building in Northern Ireland has been fundamental in ensuring long-term reconciliation and the promotion of social cohesion. Since the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland has enjoyed relative peace, political stability, and economic growth.…
Continue reading ➞ The role of women in peacemaking: The case of Northern Ireland
The Future of Strategic Studies
By Dennis Murphy The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies is in a period of transition. The next few years will bring many changes, not the least of which will be the school’s move to 555 Pennsylvania Avenue. It is with an eye to the future that the SAIS Observer reached out to the…
Does SAIS Europe have the harshest grading system across the three SAIS campuses?
By Yilin Wang WASHINGTON, D.C – If you have spoken to SAIS students who did their first year in Bologna, you likely already heard an impassioned speech about the harsh grading approach at the campus. In the course of a comprehensive investigation, the SAIS Observer spoke to students who spent a year at SAIS Europe…
Continue reading ➞ Does SAIS Europe have the harshest grading system across the three SAIS campuses?
Protests in Latin America: More different than they appear
By Gerhard Ottehenning WASHINGTON, D.C. — The recent protests rattling Latin American capitals from Mexico City to Santiago are as diverse in their geography as they are in their proximate causes and goals. It can be difficult to keep up with the dizzying array of protest movements not only in Latin America but around the…
Continue reading ➞ Protests in Latin America: More different than they appear
DC pushes to expand affordable housing
By Gerhard Ottehenning WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last month, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser released a plan to expand affordable housing to wealthier portions of the city through the use of vouchers and subsidies. While current and future SAIS students would welcome removing the cost of rent from their list of go-to small talk conversations, political headwinds…