Population Studies

Population Studies involves the examination of important social, cultural, and economic trends through an interdisciplinary perspective, often making use of demographic research methods.  At the University of Colorado at Boulder, Population Studies faculty undertake research on a number of topics including the patterns between environmental conditions and migration, family structure and aging, teenage sexual behaviors and childbearing, and social inequality and health.

To address important research questions, graduate students apply demographic theories and methods to rich cross-sectional, longitudinal, and contextual data sources.  Graduate students are trained for a wide range of professional, academic, and research roles in public and private organizations concerned with population issues and problems.
Incoming graduate students may examine any topical area within Population Studies, but our faculty research interests include environmental demography, social inequalities in health, and migration and distribution.  Of course, many researchers find interconnections between these research areas, as shown below.

Population Studies Research Areas at CU-Boulder

Environmental Demography: A new and exciting area of demographic research explores population-environment interactions.  This work typically examines the ways in which population patterns are associated with environmental context.  As examples, CU Boulder faculty and graduate students examine the human dimensions of environmental change, the social distribution of environmental hazards, and natural resources and rural livelihoods in developing nations.

Health: CU-Boulder faculty and graduate students conduct extensive research related to health behaviors and conditions.  Ongoing work examines the effects of socioeconomic status, neighborhood conditions, race, ethnicity, gender, and governmental policies on inequality in overall health, as well as specific health behaviors—including smoking, drinking, and risky driving—and health conditions—such as obesity, perceived health status, and HIV/AIDS.

Migration and Population Distribution:  A large body of important social research has emerged on migration and inequality, including the effects of immigration on both sending and receiving populations.  CU-Boulder faculty and graduate students undertake research on the measurement of migration, as well as the association between migration and social and economic characteristics.  We also explore the association between environmental context (such as hazardous waste sites and pollution) and human migration patterns.

Sociology Graduate Course Offerings in Population Studies Include:

·     Population Issues, Problems, and Policies
·     Population Studies: Fertility and Mortality
·     Population and Environment
·     Environmental Inequalities and Social Stratification
·     Social Disparities in Health
·     Biodemography
·     Topics in Stratification: Social Demography of Race and Ethnicity
·     Rotating topic seminars in Population Studies

Because of the interdisciplinary character of Population Studies, there are many relevant graduate course offerings in other departments.  For instance, the Department of Geography offers graduate seminars in Migration, Urbanization, and Development; Population Geography; and Formal Population Geography: Analysis and Forecasting.  And the Economics Department offers a seminar in Economic Demography. 

Population Program in the Institute of Behavioral Science

The Population Program, within the Institute of Behavioral Science, offers a multidisciplinary program of research for graduate students and faculty within the Departments of Sociology, Geography, and Economics.  The Population Program encourages collaborative and interdisciplinary research, sponsors a Working Paper Series, and features a series of research presentations.  The Population Program includes the Population Aging Center (PAC), funded by the National Institutes of Aging, which examines the interconnections between aging, health, and family structure from national and international perspectives.  Furthermore, the Program also includes the NICHD-funded University of Colorado Population Center (CUPC), which provides infrastructural support to faculty and students.  For example, CUPC regularly offers specialized summer short courses (see for example, www.colorado.edu/ibs/pop/short_courses.html).
Finally, the Population Program offers an interdisciplinary Certificate in Demography.  The certificate program, the oldest of its kind at CU-Boulder, combines interdisciplinary social science research with graduate training. 


The Department of Sociology's Population Studies Faculty Includes:

Jason Boardman (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) social inequalities in health, neighborhood processes, and racial stratification.

Liam Downey (Ph.D., University of Arizona) environmental inequality, urban demographic change, pollution and health, GIS.

Lori Hunter (Ph.D., Brown University): population and environment, environmental inequality, migration.

Ying Lu (Ph.D., Princeton University): statistical and mathematical demography, measurement models, health, public policy, political behavior

Jane Menken (Ph.D., Princeton University): adult health and wellbeing, HIVIAIDS, and population policy

Stefanie Mollborn (Ph.D. Stanford University): social inequalities in health, social psychological processes influencing inequality, childhood and adolescence, adolescent sexual behaviors, and families.

Fred Pampel (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign): gender, race, and SES differences in smoking over the life course, changing inequality in health behavior, and cross-national patterns of tobacco use and tobacco policies.

Richard Rogers (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin): social inequalities in health, aging, and social differentials in longevity.


For more information about the Population Program, see http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/POP/.