Find out what recent grad Jessica LeBlanc is doing with her dual major in sociology and international affairs, 5/3/12
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Excerpted from an article in UNH's International Educator, the UNH Center for International Education newsletter.
The University of New Hampshire is known to be a top school for undergraduate research. Research and presentation skills are invaluable for students hoping to pursue graduate studies or navigate a wide variety of challenging careers. Such was the case for 2011 sociology and international affairs graduate, Jessica LeBlanc, whose article “Senegal and Guinea: A Comparative Study of Democratic Success and Failure” was published in the National Honors Society’s Spring 2011 publication: Sigma Iota Rho Journal of International Relations. (To read Jessica’s article, go to page 99 of the Journal.)
At the time Sigma Iota Journal sent out its submission requests, LeBlanc was working as an editor for Sociological Perspectives, an undergraduate journal for the Sociology Department at UNH. Her interest in contributing to the Journal was immediately piqued: “I had a particular interest in academic publications. I figured that it would be a good experience to submit a significant research paper of mine.” With a few revisions, her paper made it to the publishing stage, and left LeBlanc with “a great experience and a deeper understanding of the academic publishing process.”
Currently, LeBlanc works at UMass Boston as assistant study director for the Center for Survey Research. She hopes to continue her work in the field of quantitative policy-driven research and is furthering her education by pursuing an M.A. in Applied Sociology, with a concentration in social policy/evaluation research, at UMass Boston. When looking towards the future Leblanc sees the eventual completion of a Ph.D in Survey Research Methodology or a related field — “but not for a while.”