By Rashi Seth October 17, 2019 BOLOGNA, Italy — Bolognese graffiti offers a glimpse into the social, cultural and political mindset of the Bolognesi people. The city’s walls serve as blank canvases for open expression of grievances under the protection of anonymity. The word graffiti is derived from the Italian word “graffito,” meaning singular scratch;…
Campus News
Il viaggio: Immigrants to Italy from sub-Saharan Africa share their stories
By Fatou Sow October 2019 BOLOGNA, Italy — Migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe is not a new phenomenon. However, according to the Pew Research Center, migration from sub-Saharan Africa has increased drastically during the past decade. Europe has witnessed an influx of nearly 1 million asylum applicants from sub-Saharan Africa (970,000) between 2010 and…
Continue reading ➞ Il viaggio: Immigrants to Italy from sub-Saharan Africa share their stories
Six-figure salary? There’s a class for that.
September 24, 2019 By Nikole Ottolia WASHINGTON, D.C. — As SAIS students settle into the joys of economics problem sets and language proficiency training this fall semester, our contemporaries at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS) are diving into, “Fundamentals of Negotiation Analysis.” Taught by Professor Brian Mandell, who has been teaching public policy,…
Continue reading ➞ Six-figure salary? There’s a class for that.
Are you learning “rational” economics?
By Leif Olson It began with a simple question: Are people rational actors? More importantly, are people rational enough that we can predict and model their behavior? Many SAISers will recognize this as the fundamental question that economics, and, to an extent, social science in general, is trying to answer. But, to what degree do…
Life after SAIS: Dialogues with young alumni at the International Monetary Fund
September 24, 2019 By Yilin Wang WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the SAIS Observer sat down with four recent SAIS graduates who shared a common interest in macroeconomics despite their different backgrounds. They shared stories of how attending SAIS changed their lives—often in ways they had not expected—and which courses from SAIS’s extensive catalog have…
Continue reading ➞ Life after SAIS: Dialogues with young alumni at the International Monetary Fund
SAISer Book Review: “The Financial Markets of the Arab Gulf: Power, Politics and Money,” by Professor Jean-François Seznec and Samer Mosis
By Leif Olson For many, the Arab Gulf is associated with generous rentier states, opulent monarchs with fantastical material wealth, and behemothic buildings like the Burj Khalifa. One might wonder how the region developed such a robust financial ecosystem. Jean-François Seznec, an adjunct lecturer in the Middle East Studies department at SAIS, and Samer Mosis,…
Club Corner: SAIS Soccer
September 16, 2019 By Khun Nyan Min Htet WASHINGTON, D.C. — As DC SAISers return to school, the SAIS Soccer Club--one of the few purely recreational clubs on the DC campus--begins a new season. “Clubs tend to be themed towards what we are here for at SAIS: career development and/or specific areas of studies,” said…
We have liftoff: SAIS welcomes first Doctor of International Affairs (DIA) cohort
September 18, 2019 By Sandra Salvatori WASHINGTON, D.C. — After years of focused effort, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) inaugural cohort of Doctor of International Affairs (DIA) students has arrived on campus. The SAIS Observer will be following this first DIA cohort—of which the author is a member—throughout the semester. The…
Continue reading ➞ We have liftoff: SAIS welcomes first Doctor of International Affairs (DIA) cohort