MHR Alum Studies Intersections of Terrorism and Human Rights

Sachal Jacob pursues a doctoral degree at Georgia State University

As the Human Rights Program begins to celebrate our program's 20th anniversary, we are looking at the incredible impacts our alum are making in the world today. Join us in celebrating the achievements of Master of Human Rights Program alum Sachal Jacob (MHR '19)! Having graduated with a concentration in International Conflict and Security, Sachal is now pursuing a doctoral degree in Political Science at Georgia State University and works as a fellow with the Transcultural Conflict and Violence Initiative. Learn more about Sachal’s current endeavors below.

As an academic with a lifelong passion for human rights, Sachal Jacob is currently putting his MHR knowledge and skills to work in his doctoral studies. Sachal entered the MHR Program with a background in international relations and built upon this knowledge during his time at the U while exploring Human Rights frameworks and policy work in the context of international affairs.  

After graduating from the MHR program, Sachal continued to develop his expertise in advocacy work through  a position with The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI). Sachal completed his MHR internship with this same organization.  While working at RFI, Sachal was also applying to PhD programs and was accepted into the Political Science Ph.D. Program at Georgia State University (GSU) where he is currently a first-year doctoral student. Sachal has chosen International Relations and Comparative Politics with a research focus on modern terrorism. 

Correlating to his doctoral research in terrorism, Sachal is a fellow with the  Transcultural Conflict and Violence (TCV) Initiative, an interdisciplinary group of scholars at Georgia State University. With the TCV Invitiative, Sachal looks at terrorism in a scholarly capacity by analyzing the content of terrorist communications. His project has given him insight into the behavioral patterns of terrorist organizations and will be of great use in the writing of his dissertation, which will interrogate the causes of the fall in terrorism after 2014. 

While Sachal initially did not foresee himself pursuing academics, he has found his studies to be challenging and enriching; studies built upon knowledge and experience he gained while studying with the MHR Program. He is especially enjoying his fellowship, while keeping his focus on learning as much as possible during his Ph.D. program. This experience has given him the drive to one day potentially pursue a career in academics. That being said, he has not left behind his desire to do advocacy work and is considering a position with the United Nations in the future.  

Sachal Jacob

 

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