BIPR | Integration Fund

Integration Fund - Lisel Hintz

Academic Profile and Reflections on the SAIS Europe Integration Fund

Lisel Hintz
Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Current Role and Background
Professor Lisel Hintz is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Her research focuses on identity politics, foreign policy, authoritarianism and resistance, and politics of media. Her regional focus is on Turkey and its European and MENA neighborhoods. Her first book, "Identity Politics Inside Out: National Identity Contestation and Foreign Policy in Turkey," examines the intersection of identity, domestic politics, and international relations. Her second and third book projects analyze popular culture as political battleground and populist grand strategy, respectively.

Participation in the SAIS Europe Integration Fund
In 2023, Professor Hintz spent a full academic year at SAIS Europe in Bologna through the SAIS Europe Integration Fund. This opportunity provided her with invaluable proximity to the region she studies, direct engagement with European perspectives, and a supportive environment for research and teaching.

Academic and Community Engagement in Bologna
During her time in Bologna, Professor Hintz actively participated in academic life and fostered connections within the SAIS Europe community. Her key activities included:

Faculty and Student Engagement:
She built relationships with faculty and students, exchanging insights on Turkey, the Middle East, and European affairs. She participated in initiatives such as a workshop on transnational activism with 20+ scholars organized by Prof. Nina Hall and attended numerous post-event dinners where speakers, faculty, and students all learned from each other. These intellectual exchanges enriched her research, offered fresh perspectives on regional dynamics, and recharged her intellectual batteries. She made strong connections with SAIS Europe students, some of whom were in both of her courses offered in Bolognaâ€”Conflicts and Cultures in Contemporary Turkey and Politics of Protest in Europe and Eurasiaâ€”and she was delighted to reconnect with them during the current academic year in Washington, DC.
Focused Research and Writing:
Professor Hintz divided up her time in Bologna, taking the first semester for research and writing and the next semester for teaching. She found it was an ideal space for uninterrupted productivity. She made significant progress on her second and third book projects as well as several articles that are now published, and leveraged library access and administrative support to further her work.
Proximity to Turkey and European Conferences:
Being based in Europe enabled Professor Hintz to travel easily for conferences, research presentations, and academic collaborations. She presented her work, attended talks, and expanded her academic network at institutions such as the European University Institute and Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, as well as in Manchester, Barcelona, and Berlin, and Venice. The opportunity to engage with European scholars in person deepened her research impact.
BIPR Engagement and Student Involvement:
Professor Hintz played a pivotal role in organizing and contributing to BIPR seminars, co-hosting discussions, and fostering student participation in academic programming. Through these events, she was able to engage with the wider SAIS community on pressing Middle East and Turkish political issues, facilitating open conversations about regional conflicts and domestic dynamics. Notably, she led and facilitated the following events:

Unique Aspects of the SAIS Europe Experience
Reflecting on her time in Bologna, Professor Hintz identified several key advantages of spending time at SAIS Europe:

Stronger Research and Writing Focus:The ability to step away from the demands of Washington, DC, provided a rare opportunity for deep academic focus and productivity.
Enhanced Collaboration with European Scholars: The integration fund allowed her to forge stronger ties with European colleagues and gain valuable perspectives on Turkey's role in EU politics. Proximity to the University of Bologna also enabled her to connect a Unibo PhD student who attended one of her BIPR events with a SAIS MA student from the DC campus who worked on similar foreign policy issues. The two students then co-authored a policy piece.
Proximity to Turkey: The time zone alignment and geographic closeness facilitated travel for field research, including conducting interviews in Turkey. This proximity also facilitated her contributions to live broadcasts with TV news outlets including BBC, ABC (Australian), and CBC (Canadian) during major events in Turkey such as the May 2023 elections.
An Open and Engaged Classroom Environment: She found classroom discussions in Bologna to be extremely open and nuanced, allowing for rich debates with diverse perspectives on sensitive political issues.
Strong Community and Collegial Atmosphere: The Bologna campus fosters close faculty-student interactions and a strong academic community that values regional expertise, providing an enriching experience beyond the classroom. The familiarity she developed with students' interests and skill sets through office hours discussions and post-class chats led her to coach several students to take on co-moderator roles at BIPR events.

A Pivotal Moment: The February 2023 Earthquake in Turkey and Syria
While in Bologna, Professor Hintz played a key role in organizing solidarity sessions in response to the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in February 2023. These online writing sessions provided a platform for affected students and scholars located across multiple time zones to share their concerns, process their experiences, and build a lasting support network that continues virtually today. The ability to respond to this crisis in real-time, with European colleagues and students, underscored the importance of SAIS Europe's tight-knit community and academic solidarity. She particularly remembers running from Venice's train station, through the streets and over the canals, to make it to her family's hotel in time to access wifi and start a session (with a minute to spare).

Recommendations for Other Faculty
Professor Hintz highly recommends the SAIS Europe Integration Fund, particularly for faculty focusing on area studies, regional dynamics, and global issues beyond a U.S.-centric perspective. The experience of working in Bologna allowed her to:

Expand her research network and engage in new collaborations.
Present and refine her research through European academic institutions.
Gain insights into European perspectives on Turkey and Middle East affairs.
Benefit from a less distracting, academically focused environment to advance her scholarship.

Conclusion
Professor Hintz's year at SAIS Europe demonstrated the immense value of faculty exchanges in strengthening transatlantic academic integration. She left Bologna with new research collaborations, deeper engagement with European colleagues, and a greater appreciation for the unique academic experience at SAIS Europe. She strongly encourages faculty to take advantage of this opportunity, recognizing that time in Bologna provides unparalleled professional and intellectual growth.