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Bologna Institute for Policy Research
Launches in London
I Bolognesi a Londra
Bologna Center
alumni in
London were
among the first
to celebrate
the official launch of the
Bologna Institute for Policy
Research (BIPR) during
their annual event, I Bolognesi
a Londra, on October
1. Two days later, the institute
announced its launch
at home—in the company
of 199 students from 43
countries as Bologna Center
Director Kenneth H. Keller
opened the 2011–12 academic
year.
“The BIPR was founded
on the strong belief that we
66 SAISPHERE
can get more out of activities
already under way at
the SAIS Bologna Center,”
said Erik Jones B’89, ’90,
Ph.D. ’96, BIPR director
and professor of European
Studies. “The community
at the Bologna Center is
rich enough—and the intellectual
resources we can tap
through the wider Johns
Hopkins enterprise are deep
enough—that we should be
able to do more with what
we have to make a positive
contribution to policy
debates in Europe.”
During its first months
of activity, the BIPR has
already begun to support
From left to right at I Bolognesi a Londra, Martin Fraenkel
B’83, ’84; Mimi Lowe Armstrong B’82, ’83; Bologna Center
Director Kenneth H. Keller; Hans Hoogervorst B’82, ’83 and
guest Marisa Polin; Armstrong’s guest, Louis Armstrong; and
Fraenkel’s guest, Paola Giunti
tangibly the research activities
of the Bologna Center.
Its new suite of offices steps
away from the teaching
building provides workspace
for its first associate
research fellows, Elisabetta
Magnani and Rob Shum,
and SAIS Ph.D. candidate
Bilal Erdogan and doctoral
student Giuliana Mascagni.
Special short courses at the
Bologna Center brought
BIPR its first visiting fellows,
Gary Sick (Columbia
University) and Charles
Pearson ’66 (SAIS and
Academy of Vienna), who
taught four-part seminars
on “The United States in the
Persian Gulf: From Outlier
to Empire” and “Economics
and the Challenge of Global
Warming,” respectively.
BIPR’s mission is to promote
problem-oriented,
interdisciplinary research in
international policy, drawing
on the global network
of SAIS scholars and the
comparative advantage of
the Bologna Center as a
transatlantic institution
for research and teaching
with more than 50 years
of experience in Europe.
Resident faculty fellows lead
BIPR research programs
in six main policy areas;
each research program is
enriched by visiting
scholar residencies,
seminars, conferences
and publications.
During the fall
semester, BIPR
hosted more than 25
thematic seminars
at the Bologna Center,
using student
research assistants to
create lecture summaries
and video
interviews, materials
that were then published
online.
“Our goal from
day one is to make
content coming out
of the BIPR and the
Bologna Center available
to our public
in a useful and
timely manner,” said
Kathryn Knowles
B’01, ’02, who is
working with Keller
and Jones to develop
a road map for BIPR’s