DAAD Kissinger Center Retreat

On October 10-12, 2024, the DAAD and Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs hosted a retreat to discuss faculty and fellow's research and foster networking opportunities.

The annual DAAD HKC Retreat took place on 10-12 October, 2024 at the Lansdowne Resort in Virginia. The participants were Kissinger Center faculty, staff, postdoctoral and predoctoral fellows, as well as distinguished guests from Johns Hopkins SAIS as well as other leading global institutions and organizations. The goals of the retreat were twofold: 1) present and discuss ongoing high-quality research of the Kissinger Center community and guests; and 2) to foster networking opportunities as well as team building for new and established members of the Kissinger Center community. 

The retreat kick-started with a fireside chat with the Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS Jim Steinberg, and the Director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute Kori Schake, moderated by DAAD Helmut Schmidt Distinguished Visiting Professor Marina Henke. Topics of discussion were the application of academic skills and training to policymaking and influencing the policymaking process via the impressive career stories of the distinguished guests. The surprising events leading to those careers, the changes between policy positions and academic positions as well as insights into the different work cultures, questions of ethics and prioritization within these applications were aspects that were discussed and offered opportunities for participants to ask questions. 

The second day of the retreat consisted of a full schedule of presentations and discussions, followed by a formal dinner and a Q&A session between Professor Marina Henke and Kissinger Center Director Professor Frank Gavin. The third day of the retreat continued with three discussions of historical and contemporary research projects. 

Various topics of research were presented and discussed within the fields of history, political science, and international relations with distinct policy application elements. The presented projects encompassed research designs, fully drafted articles and book manuscripts as well final stage articles waiting for submission. Projects in both journal article and book manuscript formats were presented.