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
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
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
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
By Yilin Wang November 10, 2019 WASHINGTON, D.C. – This past October, three development economist were awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.” In past years the Nobel Committee has predominantly favored theoretical breakthroughs in academia. However, this year’s prize-winning economic research features on-the-ground trials and…
Continue reading ➞ Nobel-winning research brings scientific rigor to development policies
By Leif Olson November 11, 2019 Protests in Ecuador came to an end on October 13 as the government was forced to reverse IMF-imposed austerity measures. For days, protesters clashed with police in Quito Park, the epicenter of the protest. Indigenous Ecuadorians took to the streets after fuel subsidies were removed pursuant to the austerity…
Continue reading ➞ Professor vs. professor: Austerity in Ecuador
By Song Qingqing December 1, 2019 A man cutting a woman’s hair on the street for a wig. Source: Wangyi News Across China’s third and fourth-tier cities, visitors may notice scooter-riding men and women carrying loudspeakers advertising that they are “collecting hair, long hair wanted, high prices for long hair.” Interested passersby may stop the…
Continue reading ➞ Hair interwoven: China’s wig market in Africa
By Daniel Mikesell December 12, 2019 NANJING, China — Under a recent inspection into Nanjing schools, officials rummaged through students’ backpacks and lockers looking for forbidden educational materials. To Western audiences, such an image may seem like a scene out of George Orwell’s “1984.” However, this is not the aspect of China’s education system that…
By Aidan Li Ping Greer “Daughter of China: The True Story of Forbidden Love in Modern China”By Meihong Xu and Larry EngelmannPaperback, 378 pagesPublished 1999 by Headline Book Publishing The original cover of “Daughter of China.” Source: Goodreads.com “Are there spies among us?” It is not uncommon to overhear Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC) students and professors…
By Benjamin Avichai Katz Sinvany November 6, 2019 Students protest the giving of German concessions in Shandong to Japan. “May Fourth Movement” by Liang Yulong, July 1976. NANJING, China — Many Chinese identify the May Fourth Movement, or New Culture Movement, as the origin of modern China. Beginning with student-led protests against ineffective governance in…
Continue reading ➞ Reflections on the May Fourth Movement on its 100th anniversary