Sarah Barb recently presented her research project, “Economic Development and Political Integration in China: The Migration of Han Chinese into Historic Tibet”, at the 39th Annual Mid-South Sociological Association Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. This is Sarah’s first year doing research and this particular project is her Honor’s project.
Sarah explains that this project is
“about population changes in Tibet and the Western provinces in China. Recent economic opportunities have caused the ethnic majority in China to move to Western provinces that were once part of Tibet.”
Sarah’s advisor, Dr. Daniel Sarabia, invited her to work on this project with him. She explains:
“It was really interesting working with Dr. Sarabia, I learned a lot about what sociology researchers have to do to get their ideas out into the academic literature and about how to get funding for research. We are still working on the research but we did a lot of work together on this research.”
After submitting the paper it was accepted for a paper presentation at this conference. This was Sarah’s first time presenting outside of a classroom and she states that it was
“exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. I got a lot of feedback about my research and it was very helpful.”
Sarah’s message to students considering research opportunities:
“Roanoke College is a great place to do undergraduate research because the professors are very willing to work with students on projects, whatever department you are in. Doing research is a great way to get course credit for something that you are already interested in and it looks good on a resume, especially if you plan on going to graduate school. It is a way to start sharing your ideas with the world, instead of feeling that you are not using the knowledge you have gained this far here at Roanoke.”