The Department of Demography offers an interdisciplinary training program leading to the MA and PhD in demography. Demography is the systematic study of human populations, a topic central to many pressing policy issues such as the economic development of Third World countries, population aging, the environment, health and mortality, family and household change, immigration, and ethnicity. Demography also has strong intellectual and institutional ties to other fields such as sociology, economics, social history, anthropology, biology, public health, and statistics.
There is no undergraduate major in Demography, but the department offers an undergraduate minor in Demography. Seniors may take graduate courses with the consent of the instructor.
Facilities and Library
Training and research explore anthropological, economic, historical, mathematical, statistical, and social aspects of demography. Computer applications — including exploratory statistical analysis and microsimulation techniques — are strongly emphasized. The department has advanced computing facilities consisting of state-of-the-art UNIX workstations and servers, networked PCs, and access to IBM mainframe services. Additionally, the department has its own non-circulating library, the Allan Sharlin Memorial Library, which hosts a wide collection of books and periodicals in the field of demography.
Events and Colloquia
The Demography Brown Bag series is an opportunity for the campus demography community to present either works in progress or completed works in an informal setting. The lectures are hosted during the school year every Wednesday at noon in the Demography Conference Room.
The Demography Mini-Conferences are occasional half-day conferences sponsored jointly by the Department of Demography and the Berkeley Population Center at UC Berkeley, and/or the Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging (CEDA). Noted demographers and scholars from related fields make up the list of invited speakers to this series, which brings together specialists interested in demography from the entire Bay Area, including Stanford University and UC Davis, and beyond. We hold several such events each academic year, in one of the campus' fine meeting spaces. These are half-day gatherings, often starting with an informal buffet lunch (or ending with a networking social), with presentations, moderated discussions, and Q&A from attendees.
Terms offered: Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2011
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. Fundamentals of Population Science: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 0-1 hours of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5-7.5 hours of lecture and 0-2.5 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6-6 hours of lecture and 0-2 hours of discussion per week 10 weeks - 4.5-4.5 hours of lecture and 0-1.5 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
This course will cover the small but important part of the rich history human migration that deals with the population of the United
States--focusing on the 20th and 21st Centuries. We will use the tools of DS8 to answer specific questions that relate to the themes
of this course:
(1) Why do people migrate?
(2) Is immigration good or bad for receiving (and sending) countries?
(3) How do immigrants adapt and how do societies change in response?
In addition to scientific questions, this course will also address the demographic and political history of immigration in the US --
an understanding of which is crucial for understanding both the broad contours of US history and the particular situation in which
we find ourselves today.
Student Learning Outcomes: This course will enhance the experience of DS8 by challenging students to use the tools of DS8 to address current questions with real data. By accessing and using much larger and messier datasets than are used in the main course, students will gain technical skills as well as confidence in their ability to use data to answer questions.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Prerequisites and Restrictions (if any): Corequisite or Prerequisite: Foundations of Data Science (COMPSCI C8 / INFO C8 / STAT C8). This course is a Data Science connector course and is meant to be taken concurrent with or after COMPSCI C8/ INFO C8 / STAT C8. Students may take more than one Data Science connector course if they wish, concurrent with or after having taken the C8 course
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-2 hours of lecture, 0-1 hours of discussion, and 0-1 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
Measures and methods of Demography. Life tables, fertility and nuptiality measures, age pyramids, population projection, measures of fertility control. Introduction to Population Analysis: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 0-1 hours of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5-7.5 hours of lecture and 0-2.5 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6-6 hours of lecture and 0-2 hours of discussion per week 10 weeks - 4.5-4.5 hours of lecture and 0-1.5 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
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. Sex, Death, and Data: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 1 or 3 or 3AC or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 0-2 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Not yet offered
Fundamentals of demographic analysis of health and mortality with a special focus on global public health challenges including those induced by climate change. Class will focus on essential concepts from demography and public health, global and historical shifts in mortality and morbidity patterns, and the determinants of health and mortality over the life course, including environmental determinants. Students’ will develop their own research project related to health and mortality using real-world demographic data. Students will learn to interpret, construct, and calculate common demographic and public health indicators, and will develop a basic toolkit for analyzing health and mortality data. Demography of Deaths, Diseases, and Disasters: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Introductory statistics course and some experience with a programming language (preferably R), or consent of the instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 0-1 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
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. The American Immigrant Experience: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
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. Special Topics in Demography: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2015
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. Population Apocalypse in Film and Science: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2007
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. Impact of Government Policies on Poor Children and Families: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: This course may be applied to the Demography major.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2012, Fall 2008, Spring 2005
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. Family and Household in Comparative Perspective: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Sociology 1, 3, 3AC or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
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? Economic Demography: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Economics 1 or 2
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 0-1 hours of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5-7.5 hours of lecture and 0-2.5 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6-6 hours of lecture and 0-2 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructor: Lee
Formerly known as: Demography C175, Economics C175
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2019
The science of social networks focuses on measuring, modeling, and understanding the different ways that people are connected to one another. We will use a broad toolkit of theories and methods drawn from the social, natural, and mathematical sciences to learn what a social network is, to understand how to work with social network data, and to illustrate some of the ways that social networks can be useful in theory and in practice. We will see that network ideas are powerful enough to be used everywhere from UNAIDS, where network models help epidemiologists prevent the spread of HIV, to Silicon Valley, where data scientists use network ideas to build products that enable people all across the globe to connect with one another.
Prerequisites: Suggested: Introduction to Statistics (Computer Science/Information/Statistics C8 or "Data 8"), Pre-calculus (Mathematics 32), Python, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 0-1 hours of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5-7.5 hours of lecture and 0-2.5 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6-6 hours of lecture and 0-2 hours of discussion per week 10 weeks - 4.5-4.5 hours of lecture and 0-1.5 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019
Undergraduate research by small groups. Enrollment is restricted by regulations governing 198 courses. Directed Group Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 60 units; good academic standing
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-3 hours of directed group study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of directed group study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2015, Fall 1997
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.
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
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. Demographic Methods: Rates and Structures: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012
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. Advanced Demographic Analysis: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 210, Population Studies 110, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2016
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. Practical Computer Applications for Demographic Analysis: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of demonstration per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2010, Spring 2009, Spring 2008
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. Current Research Topics in Demography: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 213
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2013, Fall 2011
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. Human Fertility: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2011, Spring 2009
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. Human Mortality: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 210 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2013, Spring 2011, Spring 2000
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. Human Migration: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7.5 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2018
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. Special Topics in Demography Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 6 weeks - 2.5-9.5 hours of seminar per week 8 weeks - 2-7 hours of seminar per week 10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of seminar per week 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
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. Economic Demography: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2019
This course provides a broad introduction to the empirical and theoretical study of social networks. We will cover classic and contemporary studies, beginning with fundamental definitions and models, and then moving through a range of topics, including models of network formation and structure (homophily, foci, communities); dynamic processes on networks (contagion, influence, and disease models); collaborative networks; personal networks; online networks; and network sampling and data collection. The course material is intended to be of interest to students from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, including demography, sociology, statistics, computer science, and related fields. Social Networks: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: Students who have taken DEMOG 260-001: SOCIAL NETWORKS in spring 2017 or DEMOG 260-001: SOCIAL NETWORKS in spring 2018 for credit may not receive credit for DEMOG C280 or SOCIOL C273N.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Problems in data acquisition, analysis, and presentation of technical demographic research. Required of graduate students in the Ph.D. program in Demography. Advanced Research Techniques: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 295 and consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
Intended to provide directed reading in subject matter not covered in available course offerings. Directed Reading: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-12 hours of independent study per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Summer 2020 8 Week Session, Spring 2020
Intended to provide supervision in the preparation of an original research paper or dissertation. Directed Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-12 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 1.5-22.5 hours of independent study per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
Course credit for experience gained in academic teaching through employment as a graduate student instructor. GSI Training: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Appointment as a graduate student instructor in department
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-6 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 1-6 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Demography/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
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. Individual Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-8 hours of independent study per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
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. Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: For qualified graduate students
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-8 hours of independent study per week
William Dow, Professor. Health economics, global health, economic demography. Research Profile
Dennis Feehan, Assistant Professor. Demography, social networks, sociology, statistics, sampling, mortality, computational social science, migration, Facebook.
Joshua R. Goldstein, Professor. Fertility, marriage, social demography, historical demography, population aging, formal demography. Research Profile
Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, Professor. Culture, population, social action, intentions, Africa, gender, fertility, marriage. Research Profile
Mara Loveman, Professor.
Ayesha Mahmud, Assistant Professor.
Carl Mason, Adjunct Assistant Professor.
Lecturers
Leora Lawton, Lecturer. Comparative and historical sociology, political sociology, ethnoracial politics, development, demography, Latin America. Research Profile
Emeritus Faculty
Eugene A. Hammel, Professor Emeritus. Kinship, social anthropology, stratification, statistical and formal analysis, computer applications, peasant society and culture, demography, Balkans. Research Profile
Ronald D. Lee, Professor Emeritus. Economics, evolutionary theory, mathematical demography, population aging, intergenerational transfers, economic demography, life history theory, population forecasting, national transfer accounts. Research Profile
Kenneth Wachter, Professor Emeritus. Mathematical demography stochastic models, simulation, biodemography, federal statistical system. Research Profile
John R. Wilmoth, Professor Emeritus. Demography, sociology, methodological research, longevity, life expectancy, mortality differentials, familial resemblance, mortality and life expectancy forcasting, historical population trends, world population growth, international migration forecasting. Research Profile
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