Justin Schubert calls Manchester, New Hampshire, home, but his international interests have taken him to Europe several times during his undergraduate years at the University of New Hampshire. In May 2011 he will graduate with a double major: a Bachelor of Science in business administration with an option in international business and economics, and a Bachelor of Arts in German and international affairs. He is a member of the University Honors Program.
Justin learned both French and German before studying in southern Germany, near the Swiss border. He was there in 2009 during the financial crisis, which led to the topic of his senior thesis (done as a junior) for Dr. Benjamin Cole’s International Affairs capstone course in spring 2010. Justin found the wide range of thesis subjects in the course very interesting. For him, choosing a specific research subject and selecting what to include was a challenging part of the research process.
Justin first met Dr. Benjamin Cole in his Global Issues course in 2008. Dr. Cole has been at the University of New Hampshire for three years and is currently Hood House Lecturer in International Affairs. His areas of teaching and research are international and comparative politics, specifically the politics of democratic transition, political instability, and economic development. (Next fall he will teach a new course which combines science fiction literature and international relations.)
Dr. Cole mentors many undergraduates for independent studies, senior and honors theses, and research projects. About mentoring Justin he said: “I learned a lot about banking policy and practice in Switzerland! Justin brings a unique blend of intellectual ability, business acumen, and genuine interest to his study of the 2008 global economic crisis; and I found this blend to be interesting and engaging. It was particularly intriguing to learn from Justin’s research just how close Switzerland was to true disaster.”
After seeing Justin’s “top-notch” presentation at the 2010 Undergraduate Research Conference, Dr. Cole encouraged him to publish in Inquiry “because writing for a journal like Inquiry forces students to learn the skill of concision without losing a broad audience. This skill is invaluable both for graduate school and the job market.”
Read Justin Schubert’s article Big Bank, Small Country: Switzerland, the Financial Crisis and the European Union >>
