Jack Schallich
Jack Schallich (he/him) is a senior studying International Relations. His primary specialization is Europe (East & West) & Russia and his secondary specialization is International History & Culture. He is minoring in East Asian Studies with a China Subplan. Jack spoke with us about his interests, favorite IR classes, internships and more!
What are your primary research interests?
International alliances, security, and collaboration, as well as democratic process and backsliding.
What is your favorite IR class so far and why?
It’s not really an IR class, but one of my favorite IR-related classes was my Czech language class. I love learning foreign languages and Czech was an incredibly personal language for me to learn because my grandma’s family was Czech. She didn’t speak more than two words of the language, but me learning it became a sense of pride for her and a bonding opportunity for us in her last years because having Czech ancestry was a large part of her identity. I’m the first person in my family to speak Czech in 50 years since my great grandmother died in 1972, and I think my grandma was comforted by the fact that I’m somewhat reviving the language and culture in the family. I eventually was able to use the language when I visited Prague one weekend while I was studying abroad in Florence, and it was a sort of pilgrimage for me that I undertook for myself and my grandma.
Can you tell us a bit about a recent internship experience?
Over the summer I worked at the Lisbon Council in Brussels as a research associate intern. I worked on a policy brief that was ordered by the European Commission and focused on the role of AI, VR, and AR in education from preschool to adult learning. I really know anything about the subject or technologies coming into the internship, so it was really fascinating to not only learn about them, but do so from an EU and member state perspective.
Any hobbies or outside interests?
I love learning other languages, playing video games and hanging out with my friends, and cooking when I have time. I also recently got back into reading, which has been a lot of fun. I’ve become a really big fan of Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is one of my all time favorites. I read it for the first time this past spring and read it again in November.