Photo Contributed by Nina Dube

California Lutheran University student and faculty.

Junior Global Studies student Nina Dube presented her research on China’s investment in African countries at the 15th Poverty and Social Protection Conference from March 9 to March 11 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dube was accompanied by Associate Dean of Equity, Inclusion and Belonging and Associate Professor and Director of Ethnic and Race Studies and Global Studies Lorena Muñoz and Associate Professor of Political Science Kiku Huckle.

“ I had to show what CLU is and the opportunities that students get,” Dube said. 

Dube said she is grateful to have had the opportunity to attend this conference. 

“It’s something that I want to share with other students, to see that they, like,… show them that there’s resources around campus, like, resources like this and there’s faculty mentors who are willing to, like, go out and beyond, like, to help students get to that position,” Dube said.

Dube said she started her research last summer, with Muñoz as her mentor. Dube said that after doing some research on how China invests in different African countries, she realized that she wanted to focus  more on Zimbabwe. 

“I feel like a lot of people don’t really know what’s happening in these countries, like in Africa, what’s really like happening in the communities,” Dube said. “I was kind of interested in what’s really happening: ‘What’s the investment? Who is involved?  Who is China and who is Africa?’” 

According to Dube, there were three other students who presented in the conference, two from Japan and one from China. The rest of the presenters were professionals in the field, Dube said. 

According to Huckle, Muñoz had attended the conference two years ago and recommended that Huckle looked into it. During an email interview, Huckle said that this is her second time going to the conference, last year was the first time she had the opportunity to attend.

Huckle said that she got to see the friends she made the past year return to the conference and see what they are working on and how other presenters approached their own research. Huckle said that this year there were representatives from the government in Trinidad and Tobago, who talked about their approaches to social protection and the issues they have with raising awareness about the available programs.

Muñoz described the conference in an email interview as a “small, curated conference to bring together academics and practitioners from around the globe to learn from each other about academic research about social protection and alleviation of poverty, in addition to how governments respond to calls for eradicating poverty.”

Muñoz said that the conference is small on purpose, since it seeks to foster relationships among scholars and practitioners, while innovating about topics such as poverty alleviation across the globe. According to Muñoz, participants came from different parts of the world, including China, Zimbabwe, South Africa, United States, among others. 

Dube said that she was struck by how there were so many people in the communities who were willing to engage in topics that people do not normally think about. Dube said she was also surprised to see congressmen from different countries and policymakers. 

“Then just the support that was there, it just encouraged me to do more, like, you know, to say: ‘Okay, I also have a space in research, I also have space, like, in the world— for the world to hear what I have to say,’” Dube said. 

Dube said because she is just a student, she had some doubts on the impact of her research. However, the reaction that she got after presenting, along with the encouragement and support, proved her otherwise and it was what stuck out to her the most. 

Muñoz said her highlight was seeing Dube present her research to an international audience, looking like a professional and impressing conference participants with her work. 

“It is a life-changing opportunity for students,” Muñoz said.  

Muñoz said she hopes to seek funding from either grants or fundraising to take more students so they can participate in this conference in Thailand in the future. 

Huckle said that students who want to attend this conference need to have a strong research project that is making consistent progress. In addition to that, the students must prove they are committed and have aptitude to present their research, which includes presenting at campus events as well as finding other conferences to attend and present at, Huckle said.

According to Muñoz, the application process consists of submitting an abstract or the full paper before the deadline. Afterwards, students would be sent a letter if selected.