SYLLABUS, SOC 4600/5600 / Fall 2010

GLOBAL POPULATION ISSUES – SOC 4600, INST 4600

Dual-listed with POPULATION – SOC 5600

Class meets Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:45-4:00 p.m. in CR209

Instructor: Dr. Anna Zajacova

Office: 421 Ross Hall

Email: (Please write SOC 4600 in the subject line)

Office hours: Tuesdaysand Thursdays 11:00 a.m.-12:30 pm, or by appointment

Teaching assistant: Ms. Melinda Varju

Office: 451 Ross Hall

Email:

Office hours: Tuesdays 12:30-1:30 p.m.; Wednesdays 1:00-3:00 pm, or by appointment

Prerequisite

SOC 1000 or equivalent and SOC 2070 or STAT 2070 or equivalent.

Course description:

Demography is a quantitative study of human populations. Demographers study population size, structure, and composition, changes in these parameters, and their causes and consequences within the social and physical world. The field of demography intersects closely with sociology, as well as social research more generally. Social phenomena must be studied within the context of the population. Conversely, population issues must be understood within their social contexts.

This course is designed to introduce the field of population study and its application to a broader social context. It provides an overview of basic demographic processes (fertility, mortality, and migration), and structures (age and sex composition, family formation, socioeconomic diversity). We will explore the causes and consequences of these processes and structures as they relate to the social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of societies.

Course objectives:

At the completion of the class, students will

  • Understand basic demographic processes (fertility, mortality, and migration) and their implications to societies’ social, economic, and political structures.
  • Identify reliable sources of data and use basic demographic techniques to analyze them.
  • Interpret global, national, and local events within an appropriate demographic context.
  • Apply the course material to one’s own experiences.

Course structure:

The classes will combine lectures, class discussion, and student presentations. In order to participate in the class, students are expected to complete the assigned readings before they are discussed in class. Typically, I will lecture on a particular topic, drawing on your readings and connecting them to other fields of research, policy, and your everyday experiences. I will emphasize the critical aspects of the material and together we will discuss the implications of the demographic approach and findings.

Required reading:

Yaukey, David, Douglas L. Anderton, and Jennifer H. Lundquist. 2007. Demography: The Study of Human Population. Long Grove, Il: Waveland Press.

Additional readings will be assigned infrequently during the semester to supplement the textbook. All readings will be available online for you to download and print. You will not be expected to purchase any reading material other than your textbook.Any reading assignment will be announced at least one week in advance.

Grading:

Midterm #115%

Midterm #2 15%

Homework20%

Paper20% (5% outline plus 15% final draft)

Portfolio10%

Final exam20%

Exams. The two midterms will be mostly non-cumulative; the final exam is cumulative. All exams may comprise a mixture of short-answer, quantitative-problem, multiple-choice, true/false, and short-essay questions.

Homework. Weekly homework will be assigned. The structure will vary based on the chapter: the homework may consist of a short essay, a mini-research assignment, or a more methodologically oriented problem such as calculating life expectancy for some population. The best 10 scores will be calculated into your grade.

Paper. The paper will be submitted in two stages. First, you will submit a short (less than 1 page) outline with your topic and key points. After I grade the outline, you will work on the full paper. The length is 4-6 pages, Times New Roman 12pt font, double-spaced. We will begin discussing topics after the second in-class exam.

Portfolio. The portfolio is a collection of all work you've done in the class. It will contain your notes, homeworks, paper drafts, as well as brief in-class writing exercises. The aim is to help you see your progress throughout the semester, as well as encourage systematic writing and recording of information.

Please note. There will be no makeup exams or quizzes. Late assignments will get 20% off for each day past due, including holidays and weekends.

The final grade will be determined as follows:

90%-100%A

80%-89%B

70%-79%C

60%-69%D

0%-59%F

Important dates:

August 24 / Tuesday / First class
September 28 / Tuesday / First exam
October 28 / Thursday / Second exam
November 23 / Tuesday / No class
November 29 / Tuesday / Paper due
December 2 / Thursday / Last class
December 9 / Thursday / Final exam 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Class participation:

Appropriate participating in class discussion is expected and encouraged.

Rights and responsibilities:

Please refer to theUniversity of Wyoming Regulation 8-30 for information concerning your rights and responsibilities as a University of Wyoming student.

Accommodations:

If you have physical, learning, or psychological disabilities that require accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible. You must register with, and provide documentation of your disability to University DisabilitySupport Services (UDSS) in SEO, room 109 Knight Hall.

Academic Honesty:

The University of Wyoming is built upon a strong foundation of integrity, respect and trust. All members of the University community have a responsibility to be honest and the right to expect honesty from others. Any form of academic dishonesty is unacceptable to our community and will not be tolerated. Attempts at cheating or plagiarism will result in a grade of F (0 points) for the assignment or exam, lowered final grade, or additional repercussions.

Suspected violations of standards of academic honesty should and will be reported to the instructor, department head, or dean. University regulations regarding academic honesty can be found at:

Classroom behavior:

Appropriate behavior is expected of all students, in order to facilitate a supportive learning environment. Any activities not related to the class material must be conducted outside of the classroom, including any online networking, or in-person communication. Phones must be turned off and no conversation or texting is allowed.

Complaints:

Student Complaints should be addressed through the following chain of authority:

  1. Instructor (Dr. Anna Zajacova)
  2. UW Sociology Department Chair (Dr. Donna Barnes)
  3. UW Dean of Arts and Sciences (Dr. Oliver Walter)
  4. UW Vice President for Academic Affairs (Dr. Myron Allen)

List of topics:

PART I: POPULATION STRUCTURE

  1. Introduction to the fieldChapter 1
  2. Sources of demographic dataChapter 2
  3. Population size and growthChapter 3
  4. Age and sex structureChapter 4

PART II: THREE KEY POPULATION PROCESSES

  1. MortalityChapter 5
  2. FertilityChapter 7 (pp. 192-216)
  3. MigrationChapter 9

PART III: MAJOR TOPICS IN DEMOGRAPHY

  1. Morbidity, health, and mortalityChapter 6
  2. Family planning and fertility policiesChapter 7 (pp. 227-233)
  3. Population aging, society, and the economyAssigned reading (Denton & Spencer)
  4. Marriage, family, and householdsChapter 243
  5. Migration and urbanizationChapter 10
  6. Population diversity: race/ethnicity and genderChapter 11
  7. Population, development, and environmentAssigned reading (Sherbirin et al.)

Graduate students.

The grading will be as follows:

Midterm #115%

Midterm #2 15%

Homework20%

Paper25% (10% outline plus 15% final draft)

Portfolio5%

Class presentation5%

Final exam15%

The graduate students will also be assigned these additional readings, approximately one per week. The readings for PART I of the course are below.

Chapter 1.

Joseph A. Mcfalls. 2003. "Population: A Lively Introduction," vol. 58, no.4 (Washington DC: Population Reference Bureau, December 2003). Available at

Chapter 2.

Iversen, R, Furstenberg, F., Beizer Alisa. 1999. "How much do we count? Interpretation and error making in the decennial census." Demography 36: 121-34.

Chapter 3.

Lutz, Wolfgang, Warren Sanderson, and Sergei Scherbov. 2001. "The end of world population growth." Nature 412:543-545.

Chapter 4.

Lutz, Wolfgang, Goujon, Anne, and Gabriele Doblhammer-Reiter. 1998. "Demographic Dimensions in Forecasting: Adding Education to Age and Sex."Population and Development ReviewVol. 24, Supplement: Frontiers of Population Forecasting, pp. 42-58

Demographic transition

Mason, Karen O. 1997. "Explaining Fertility Transitions."Demography34(4): 443-454.

Bongaarts, John, and Watkins, Susan C. 1996. "Social Interactions and Contemporary Fertility Transitions." Population and Development Review 22(4): 639-682

Bongaarts, John. 1998. Demographic consequences of declining fertility. Science 282: 419-420.

Family

Bumpass, L. 1990. "What’s happening to the family? Interactions between demographic and institutional change." Demography 27: 483-43

David Popenoe 1993. “American Family Decline, 1960-1990: A Review and Appraisal.” Journal of

Marriage and Family 55, Aug: 527-542.

Urbanization

Brockerhoff, Martin P. 2000. "An Urbanizing World" Population Bulletin 55(3) 1:48. Available at

Epidemiologic transition

Omran Abdel R. 1971. "The epidemiologic transition: a theory of the epidemiology of population change." Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 49:501-538.

Migration

Douglas S. Massey, Joaquin Arango, Graeme Hugo, Ali Kouaouci, Adela Pellegrino, J. Edward Taylor. 1993. "Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal." Population and Development Review 19(3): 431-466

Population policy

C. Alison McIntosh, Jason L. Finkle. 1995. "The Cairo Conference on Population and Development: A New Paradigm?" Population and Development Review 21(2): 223-260

TOPICS

Generational conflict

Preston, S. 1984. "Children and the Elderly: Divergent Paths for America's Dependents," Demography, 21: 435-457.

Population and economy

Lee, Ronald, and Jonathan Skinner. “Will Aging Baby Boomers Bust the Federal Budget?”

Journal of Economic Perspectives 13 (1), Winter 1999: 117-140.

Murray and Lopez

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