Demography (DEMOG)

This is an archived copy of the 2014-15 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu/.

Courses

DEMOG 5 Fundamentals of Population Science 3 Units

This course provides an accessible introduction to the social science of demography. The course is organized around cases in which population issues raise policy or ethical dilemmas (example: China's one child policy). Through these cases, students will learn how demographers use models and data to acquire knowledge about population. Throughout the course, students will also learn to read, interpret, evaluate, and produce tabular and graphical representations of population data.

DEMOG 98 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units

Undergraduate research by small groups.

DEMOG 110 Introduction to Population Analysis 3 Units

Measures and methods of Demography. Life tables, fertility and nuptiality measures, age pyramids, population projection, measures of fertility control.

DEMOG C126 Social Consequences of Population Dynamics 4 Units

Introduction to population issues and the field of demography, with emphasis on historical patterns of population growth and change during the industrial era. Topics covered include the demographic transition, resource issues, economic development, the environment, population control, family planning, birth control, family and gender, aging, intergenerational transfers, and international migration.

DEMOG 145AC The American Immigrant Experience 4 Units

The history of the United States is the history of migration. The course covers the evolution of the American population from about 20,000 BC with the goal of understanding the interdependent roles of history and demography. As an American cultures class, special attention is given to the experiences of 18th- and 19th-century African and European immigrants and 20th- and 21st-century Asian and Latin American immigrants. Two substantial laboratory assignments; facility with a spreadsheet program is assumed.

DEMOG 160 Special Topics in Demography 3 Units

Special topics in demography. Topics may include the demography of specific world regions, race and ethnicity, population and policy, and population and environment and similiar specialized or new topics in the field of demography will be covered.

DEMOG 161 Population Apocalypse in Film and Science 3 Units

Despite our astonishing demographic success as a species, humans are haunted by the idea of apocalyptic demise. This course explores scientific and cultural narratives of population catastrophe particularly as presented in film. Noah's flood; nuclear annihilation; overpopulation; and climate change all raise the question: Does human nature carry within it the seeds of our inevitable destruction? In this course, we will grapple with both the science and the art in which this question is embedded.

DEMOG C164 Impact of Government Policies on Poor Children and Families 4 Units

Examination of the impact of policies of state intervention and public benefit programs on poor children and families. Introduction to child and family policy, and study of specific issue areas, such as income transfer programs, housing, health care, and child abuse.

DEMOG C165 Family and Household in Comparative Perspective 3 Units

How are families and households organized around the world? Which aspects of household and family vary, and which are constant? What are the relationships between household and family on the one hand and the political, economic, or broad social patterns on the other? This course examines all of these questions, taking historical and contemporary examples from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

DEMOG C175 Economic Demography 3 Units

A general introduction to economic demography, addressing the following kinds of questions: What are the economic consequences of immigration to the U.S.? Will industrial nations be able to afford the health and pension costs of the aging populations? How has the size of the baby boom affected its economic well being? Why has fertility been high in Third World countries? In industrial countries, why is marriage postponed, divorce high, fertility so low, and extramarital fertility rising? What are the economic and environmental consequences of rapid population growth?

DEMOG 198 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units

Undergraduate research by small groups. Enrollment is restricted by regulations governing 198 courses.

DEMOG 199 Supervised Independent Study 1 - 4 Units

Supervised independent study and research.

DEMOG 200 Fundamentals of Population Thought 4 Units

This course offers an intensive introduction to the history of population thought in Europe and the United States through the close reading and contextualization of selected classic texts, including Graunt, Malthus, and Quetelet.

Required of graduate students in the M.A. or Ph.D. program in Demography.



DEMOG 210 Demographic Methods: Rates and Structures 4 Units

Population models, multiple decrement life tables, hazard functions, stable population theory, projection matrices, projection programs, population waves, dual system estimation, computer-based exercises and simulations. Required course for Demography M.A. and Ph.D. students.

DEMOG 211 Advanced Demographic Analysis 4 Units

This course is designed to provide an overview of quantitative techniques commonly used in demography, sociology, economics, and other social sciences. Methods are described in both words and formulas, and students are encouraged to learn to move freely between verbal and mathematical representations of data.

DEMOG 213 Practical Computer Applications for Demographic Analysis 2 Units

An introductory course for first year Demography graduate students in the use of the Demography laboratory. Covers Unix based tools for manipulating computer programs and data files, and the R, SPlus, and SAS statistical packages. The course introduces the proportional hazard model and methods of estimating it. The final project for this course is use of the 1995 Current Population Survey (fertility supplement) to compute Total Fertility Rates for the U.S.

DEMOG 215 Current Research Topics in Demography 2 Units

The goals of this course are 1) to familiarize graduate students with active research projects in Demography and 2) to improve skills in R and Stata. Topics covered include demographic micro-simulation with SOCSIM, the Human Mortality Database, stochastic simulation/forecasting, GIS for Demographers, and mortality forecasting. Two-thirds of class time will be spent in the computer laboratory. Students will present results.

DEMOG 220 Human Fertility 4 Units

This course offers a critical, graduate-level introduction to the social science of reproduction, drawing especially on models and theories from demography, sociology, and anthropology. Among the topics are parity specific control and the calculus of conscious choice, below-replacement fertility, and the political economy of stratified reproduction.

DEMOG 230 Human Mortality 4 Units

Measurement of mortality by age and cause. Traditional, transitional, and modern mortality patterns in European and non-European areas. Current trends and differentials by age, sex, race, occupation and marital status. Consequences of mortality declines for fertility change and development.

DEMOG 240 Human Migration 2 Units

Human populations analyzed from the stand point of their spatial distribution and movement. Special attention to rural-urban migration, metropolitan structure, inter-regional movement, and demographic aspects of land-use, the collection and analysis of emigration and immigration data and statistics, migration policies.

DEMOG 260 Special Topics in Demography Seminar 1 - 4 Units

Special topics in demography, such as anthropological and evolutionary approaches, kinship and family structure, race and ethnicity, and similar specialized or new topics in the field of demography will be covered. Seminar will be offered according to student demand.

DEMOG C275A Economic Demography 3 Units

Economic consequences of demographic change in developing and developed countries including capital formation, labor markets, and intergenerational transfers. Economic determinants of fertility, mortality and migration.

DEMOG 296 Advanced Research Techniques 4 Units

Problems in data acquisition, analysis, and presentation of technical demographic research. Required of graduate students in the Ph.D. program in Demography.

DEMOG 298 Directed Reading 1 - 12 Units

Intended to provide directed reading in subject matter not covered in available course offerings.

DEMOG 299 Directed Research 1 - 12 Units

Intended to provide supervision in the preparation of an original research paper or dissertation.

DEMOG 301 GSI Training 1 - 6 Units

Course credit for experience gained in academic teaching through employment as a graduate student instructor.

DEMOG 601 Individual Study 1 - 8 Units

Individual study, in consultation with the graduate adviser, intended for qualified students to do necessary work to prepare themselves for language examinations, and the comprehensive examination.

DEMOG 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students 1 - 8 Units

Individual study in consultation with the major field adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D.

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