by Omar Khan

A few years ago I was home in Baltimore for a few months. Giovanni must have heard my parents talk about trying to keep me out of trouble. He suggested I attend a graduate seminar he was giving in the evenings.  Nicole and Lu were there along with maybe five or ten other Hopkins students. Giovanni met with me to tell me about the course, and to get me up to speed. The seminar would meet on Tuesdays on the 5th floor of Mergenthaler. Giovanni lent me his books.  He would later meet with me to go over the readings. One time he had the class read some book by John Mearsheimer.  In seminar the following week Giovanni had us go around the room to say what was wrong with it. One by one we mentioned something that was wrong with the book. Each time he says like, "no...no, good try. But that's not the main thing."  After we all gave it a shot, he said "you're all picking on the weaknesses. When you criticize something, always confront it on its strong point." But when I really fell in the love with the guy was another time in class when he was animated, on his feet, explaining a theme in economic history. Everyone was silent as Giovanni spoke.  "Don't go to the Economics Department on the 4th floor for this insight." He continued. "Don't waste your time with these guys. No one on the 4th floor understands this stuff." He caught my eye and gave me a quick wink. “No one on the 4th floor except Ali Khan.”