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After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Global Affairs, Ghaida Ahmad sought to enrol in an International Relations graduate programme. Specifically, one that empowers her to develop awareness of multiple viewpoints, generate and develop complex, novel ideas [in international affairs], and attain an advanced level of Arabic.
This prompted her to apply to the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). “Naturally, the prestige of SAIS is what originally caught my eye,” says Ahmad. “However, after inquiring into the Master of Arts in International Relations and learning about what SAIS has to offer, my interests mushroomed as I found out about the interdisciplinary yet flexible course selections, reputable staff, and remarkable post-grad employment statistics.”
First founded in 1943, SAIS was created to prepare students to address the greatest challenges and most complex issues facing the world.
Today, SAIS is known for its innovative global faculty of 250 scholars and policy practitioners, its commitment to connecting scholarship with real-world policy, and its global reach across three interconnected campuses located in Washington, D.C., Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China.
SAIS prepares students for leadership through a world-class education built upon cutting-edge coursework in international relations, global policy, international economics, national security and intelligence, and regional and language studies.
Students at SAIS develop deep cultural competence and practical experience through research, scholarship, and applied practice in one location or more. Students take advantage of exchange programs, cross-campus courses, and joint research initiatives across campuses. This cross-pollination enriches the SAIS community’s breadth of knowledge and understanding of regional perspectives in a global context.
Source: Johns Hopkins University SAIS
Beyond the three SAIS campuses, Johns Hopkins University alumni form a worldwide network of more than 260,000 people, including 22,000 influential SAIS graduates and more than 70 SAIS alumni chapters around the world.
“SAIS’ career treks were a big draw,” says Master of Arts in International Relations student Michael K. Portillo. “They give students unparalleled access to professional networks across the US, Europe, and beyond — in government, energy, multinational institutions, consulting, and finance.”
Students of the Master of Arts in International Relations programme can spend both years in Washington, D.C., or may spend their first year at the SAIS Europe campus in Bologna, Italy or in the Certificate at the Hopkins-Nanjing Centre in Nanjing, China before coming to Washington, D.C.
for the second year. “This has given me a unique perspective on the topics I am studying as I’m immersed in the history and culture from both sides of the Atlantic,” Portillo explains.
Laurence Alexander Dynes was working at a data analytics company in London when he realised a desire to start a career in public affairs. In particular, he discovered an interest in European affairs. The Master of Arts in European Public Policy at SAIS Europe caught his eye.
Today, he’s finishing his internship at the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in Rome. “I have been contributing to a project that examines approaches for internalising economic externalities to food production,” Dynes says. “The SAIS career service was crucial in obtaining this internship, allowing me the opportunity to network with people who worked there and prepare for the interview process.” This November, he will begin a new position focused on economic inequality at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
SAIS Europe offers other programmes like the one-year Master of Arts in Global Risk, in which students become experts on sophisticated global risk analysis on a variety of issues. Sri Lankan student Anishka De Zylva, who previously worked with the United Nations Development Programme and later a local think tank on foreign policymaking, found the master’s unique for being one of the only to tackle risk in different contexts.
Source: Johns Hopkins University SAIS
In Washington, DC, students can pursue a range of specialised programmes. The Master of Arts in Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence grounds students in major strategy and intelligence topics spanning terrorism, extremism, cybersecurity, disinformation, information warfare and more. The Master of Arts in International Economics and Finance is just as insightful, preparing students to understand advanced economic theories, gain analytical abilities and apply them to real-world problems.
SAIS students learn in a new campus in Washington D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue — benefiting from a state-of-the-art facility just minutes from the US Capitol, White House, Treasury Department, Department of Justice, Department of Energy, and the National Mall.
“Coming from India, the world’s largest democracy, I had a different perspective from the rest of my class,” shares Tanvi Gupta. “Through spirited debates, I learned so much about the recent democratic crisis in the US and shared my knowledge on the challenges in India. It hit me in that class — SAIS is such an extraordinarily diverse school, with so many valuable perspectives to learn from.”
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