Pre-term at SAIS Europe is designed to give students the opportunity to settle into life in Bologna, get to know peers, faculty and staff, learn some Italian, and fulfill a program requirement, thereby leaving more space for other courses during the fall and spring terms. Pre-Term will also enable you to acclimate with life as a graduate student before the start of the academic year. Pre-Term courses are graded on a pass/fail basis and do not affect the student's grade point average.
In Summer 2025, we will offer Statistics for Data Analysis which fulfills the Data Analytics requirement for MAIR students. We will also offer International Economics I which fulfills one of the economics course requirements for MAIR and MAIA students. MAIA students coming from cooperative degree programs should note that by taking this economics course in pre-term, they will have more space in their program of study for other non-economics courses. Both of the above courses will begin online for the first two weeks of pre-term which run from August 4 to 14. By Monday, August 18 all pre-term students are expected to be in Bologna ready to attend classes on campus. Survival Italian can be taken alongside Statistics and International Economics I. Registration for pre-term will be available online on this page from 2 pm CET on May 26 through 11.59 pm on Tuesday, June 17. Matriculated students will receive detailed information regarding the online registration process toward mid-May, when they have been granted access to the JHU systems.
Below is the list of courses we plan to offer in Pre-term 2025.
MAGR and MEPP student also take courses during this period, and will be registered automatically for their required courses. MAGR and MEPP class also run online from Monday , August 4 through Thursday, August 14. MEPP students who wish to take Survival Italian may register for that course when registration opens on May 26.
Pre-term courses offered at SAIS Europe:
This course provides an introduction to the study of international trade. The first part of the course will focus on theoretical frameworks designed to understand the drivers and implications of international trade and review empirical applications of these models. The second part of the course will cover distributional consequences of trade policy instruments, arguments for trade protection, and the organization of the world trade system. Principles of microeconomics is a prerequisite for this course; more advanced topics in microeconomics will be introduced throughout the course. This course will be offered in a hybrid fashion over a 6-week period. The first two weeks will be held online and the last four weeks will take place on campus in Bologna, when students can also decide to take the Survival Italian course. This course fulfills one of the economics course requirements for MAIR and MAIA students.
This course is designed to introduce students to the basic statistical tools required to conduct and evaluate empirical research in economics and the social sciences. The course fulfills the data analytics requirement for the MAIR degree and enables those students to take an additional elective course during the program. Topics covered include elementary probability theory, sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, correlation, regression, big data and Machine Learning. Special attention will be given to the application of these statistical tools to the analysis of real phenomena. Students who attend Statistics in Pre-term will have the opportunity to participate in a workshop on STATA in the fall or spring, as scheduling permits. This course will be offered in a hybrid fashion over a 6-week period. The first two weeks will be held online and the last four weeks will take place on campus in Bologna, when students can also choose to take the Survival Italian course.
This beginner-level course is designed to help students interact in Italian during everyday life in Bologna. It consists of approximately 50 hours of classroom sessions. This course can be taken alongside Statistics or International Economics I by the non-MAGR students. The course takes a highly communicative approach, with little focus on grammatical reflection and more emphasis on linguistic functions and new vocabulary.
This is the best way to begin learning Italian and get the most out of your year(s) in Italy. The course consists of approximately 100 hours of classroom sessions and allows students to approach Italian by considering both the communicative and functiional aspects of the language, as well as engaging in grammatical and lexical reflections useful for building their linguistic competence. Depending on prior language background and aptitude, students may be placed in an intermediate level course in the fall semester and may consequently qualify to take the Italian Proficiency exam at the end of the academic year. Because of the number of classroom hours per day (4-5), plus homework, Intensive Italian cannot be taken alongside any other pre-term course.
Students whose first language is not English may need to further develop their English language skills in preparation for graduate study at SAIS. If the Admissions Committee felt that you need to improve your English skills before the start of the academic year, this will have been indicated in your admitted student letter.
During Pre-term 2025, two 4-week courses will be offered: a) an Academic Reading and Writing course, and b) an Academic Speaking and Listening course. Further details will be available before Pre-term Registration opens toward the end of May.
During Welcome Week, all students whose first language is not English must take the diagnostic English Proficiency Reading & Writing exam. Students who do not pass this exam will be required to take a further English class during the Fall semester.
Pre-term courses do not carry course credit and therefore cannot be counted toward the overall number of courses required for any SAIS program. As mentioned in the course descriptions above, MAIR students who successfully complete Statistics for Data Analysis in Pre-term will have fulfilled the Data Analytics requirement, but will still need to take 16 courses within the MAIR program. Likewise, MAIR and MAIA students who successfully complete International Economics I in Pre-Term will have fulfilled one of their economics course requirements, but will still need to complete the required number of courses for their degree program in the fall or spring terms. Successful completion of Pre-term courses is noted with High pass (HP) or Pass (P) on the transcript. No mention of Pre-term is noted for failed courses and grades do not affect the student’s grade point average (GPA).
Prerequisites
Principles of Economics Prerequisite: Prior to the beginning of Pre-term, MAIR and MAIA students must have successfully completed (or be in the process of completing) a course covering principles of micro- and macroeconomics. Proof of having met this requirement must be provided to the Admissions Office by the start of the Pre-term course. If you take the Online Principles of Economics, results will be transferred internally at the school. If a student does not pass an approved Principles of Economics course, they will not be allowed to begin their studies at SAIS in the fall term.
All other students who wish to take advantage of the elective economics courses offered at SAIS Europe are strongly encouraged to take/review a Principles of Economics course before the start of the academic year.
Questions?
The Office of Student Enrollment and Account Management (SEAM) works cross-functionally to provide support with financial aid, students accounts, and registration.