We look forward to welcoming Ninez Ponce, from the University of California Los Angeles on Friday, April 24th from 12:30 – 1:30 PM, in Parrington Hall 360 and on Zoom (Register Here). Follow this link to sign up for a 1:1 meeting with Dr. Ponce during their visit on April 24th This seminar is co-sponsored by the Population Health Initiative.

Proposed changes to the federal racial and ethnic classification system in the United States offer a unique opportunity to understand how the general public thinks about Asian American identity and how Asian populations should be classified in federal data. The Improving Asian Classification Typologies (ImpACT) project analyzes public comments submitted in response to two Federal Register Notices: (1) the OMB’s proposed revisions to Statistical Policy Directive 15, 2023, and (2) the U.S. Census Bureau’s draft race and ethnicity coding guidelines, 2024.

Using a mixed deductive-inductive coding framework, six coders working in pairs analyzed comments to develop key themes. Overall, we found the boundaries of the Asian category are contested in the comments, particularly at the intersections with the Middle Eastern and North African, White, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander categories. The geographic subgroups used to define Asian communities, including East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian, are similarly disputed, particularly for communities with identities that traverse regional boundaries. We also found disagreement over whether Census’ pre-defined regional categories should be retained or eliminated, with some commenters arguing that standardized groupings are essential for longitudinal research and reporting, while others contending that pre-defined categories introduce misclassification and can undermine community self-identification. Additional themes examine debates over terminology, data collection practices, and how classification decisions shape community visibility and health equity.

CSDE Affiliate Theresa Rocha Beardall (Sociology) has been named one of seven early career researchers in the newest class of William T. Grant Scholars. In 2025, the Puyallup Tribe signed a memorandum of understanding with thirteen public school districts to guide curriculum development on tribal culture and history, as part of Washington State’s mandated Since Time Immemorial curriculum. Alongside this MOU, the Puyallup Tribal Historic Preservation Department (THPD) is recovering Puyallup children’s boarding school records held by outside institutions for over a century to reclaim tribal authority over their educational narrative.

With the Scholars award, Rocha Beardall will collaborate with THPD in a tribally governed research partnership. The Puyallup Tribe will determine the research priorities and approach, from questions and methods to data infrastructure and dissemination, while Rocha Beardall expands her methodological expertise in supervised machine learning and develops digital infrastructure to analyze boarding school records and support curriculum development. "For too long, others have decided what counts as knowledge about Native communities in public education, often getting it wrong or leaving it out entirely. I'm thrilled to develop skills that support Native nations in reclaiming that authority and ensuring their data, stories, and knowledge systems shape what future generations learn," Rocha Beardall said.

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Please join the East Asia Center for a special public panel, "From Malthus to Musk: Searching for Population Equilibrium in East Asia", that will feature CSDE Director Sara Curran and three other scholars on Thursday, April 30 from 3:30 – 5 PM, in HUB 337, University of Washington.

From Malthus’s warnings of overpopulation to Musk’s urge to boost fertility, the drastic turn of humanity’s relationship with population growth is one of the defining features of East Asian societies. Nowhere have demographic shifts been more seismic in their speed, scale, and scope than in East Asia over the past century. Populations in this region now simultaneously exhibit the world's longest life expectancies and its lowest fertility rates.

How did East Asian societies arrive at this point? Can they return to replacement-level fertility? Echoing the historical contrast between East Asian and Western European demographic regimes, we debate the existence of a distinct "East Asian model" of demographic transition. Adopting a regional and comparative perspective, we argue that intense family competition and proactive government intervention—both operating within the context of deep-seated cultural traditions—have defined the region's current demographic challenges.

CSDE External Affiliate Jamaica Corker (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) invites CSDE affiliates and trainees to World Affairs Council-Seattle on Thursday, April 30 from 5:30 – 7 PM,  for an in-person discussion with Jennifer Sciubba, President and CEO of the Population Reference Bureau, on “The Power of Population: How Demographic Shifts are Shaping Our Global Future.” From rapidly aging populations in some regions to growing youth populations in others, demographic shifts are quietly but powerfully transforming economies, security, and global influence. Drawing on her work at PRB, Sciubba will unpack the trends driving these changes—and what they mean for the future of nations, communities, and everyday life. CSDE External Affiliate Jamaica Corker (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) will moderate, and a complimentary wine reception kicks off the event from 5:30 - 6 PM. Individuals associated with CSDE are eligible for WAC Member Pricing, using the code CSDE2026

Join CSDE on Wednesday, April 22 from 12:30 – 1:30 PM  for a Workshop on the Northwest Federal Statistical Research Data Center (NWFSRDC) network is comprised by Census-managed secure computing labs within top educational and research institutions across the country where qualified researchers conduct approved statistical analysis on non-public data. These data are collected by various government agencies (Census Bureau, NCHS, BEA, BLS, SSA, etc.) and made available to local researchers through agreements with federal statistical agencies.

CSDE is hosting office hours to help you prepare data visualizations for PAA! Join CSDE Training Core PI Audrey Dorélien, 2026-2027 CSDE Seminar Chair Min Cha, and CSDE Training Director Jessica Godwin to get feedback and consultation on figures for your PAA oral presentations or posters. Both faculty and students are welcome!! Please sign up for a consultation slot here on 4/22/26 or 4/29/26 between 12 and 1 PM.

Join CACHE on April 23 at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET for a virtual seminar on “Using Flood and Interactive Mobility Data in Exposure Research,” featuring James Elliott, Rice University, and Alex Priest, University of Alberta. This seminar provides an overview of how one can integrate diverse data sources to find, track, survey, and interview residents on the front lines of “climate retreat” nationwide (many of whom are aging homeowners). It highlights relevant challenges, emergent insights, and translation to web-based interactive tools. More information can be found here.

CSDE is pleased to announce the availability of 12-month fellowships supported by the NIH Training in Advanced Data Analytics (TADA) T32 fellowship program. These Data Science and Demography Training (DSDT) fellowships begin mid-September 2026. There are three openings for the DSDT fellowship program this year. The fellowship program is available to U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents.  The goal of the training grant is to provide rigorous training in advanced data science methodologies for the next generation of behavioral, social science and population health researchers or to provide advanced demographic training for data scientists. More information is available here.   Applications are due Friday, April 24, 2026, by 5:00 PM PT.

Heat is one of the most frequently examined environmental influences on population health, and a wide variety of data sources exist to measure exposure. This pre-PAA workshop, sponsored by the Center on Aging, Health, and Environment (CACHE), provides an overview of heat measures and examples of two, including hands-on experience with code available via the CACHE website. Participants will generate temperature exposure measures from publicly available data, as well as wet bulb temperatures. The Universal Thermal Climate Index data will also be demonstrated and linked to population data. Learn more and register here. This workshop will take place in St. Louis, Missouri on May 6, 1-5:30 PM CT . Please note you must be registered for PAA in order to attend.

Join CACHE on May 12 at 11 AM PT for a online seminar on, “Tracking the Mortality Burden Associated with Extreme Weather Events in the United States: Implications for Older Adult Health,” featuring Dr. Kai Chen of Yale School of Public Health. Extreme climate-related hazards, such as wildfire smoke, extreme temperatures (both heat and cold), floods, and drought, are increasingly recognized as major threats to human health and well-being in the United States. These events contribute to substantial premature mortality, which in turn imposes significant economic losses on society. However, the public often lacks clear, science-based information that captures the scale of these damages and makes them accessible across different regions. To address this gap, the Climate, Health, and Environment Nexus (CHEN) Lab at the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health recently developed a dashboard that attributes premature mortality in the contiguous United States to these extreme climate events: XToll: eXtreme-weather Toll Tracker. Register here.

The CSDE Development Core is once again hosting its annual Grant Writing Summer Program (GWSP) to assist scholars (UW postdocs, researchers, and professors affiliated or planning to affiliate with CSDE, as well as other researchers in the Seattle area) in preparing applications to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Applications are now open and due May 15! More info here, and application page here. Note that the program is in person and meets once every two weeks, ate June – mid Sep, on the UW Seattle campus. Final schedule is set based on the schedules of the selected participants.

Make sure to read all the FAQ's. Past participants report great success, and lots of support and even fun along the way. Applications are due May 15. Additional questions?  Contact goodreau@uw.edu.

CSDE collaborates with the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in a doctoral training program called the International Max Planck Research School for Population, Health and Data Science (IMPRS-PHDS). This program is based in Rostock, Germany, but includes 12 doctoral programs in the U.S. and Europe. CSDE has one IMPRS-PHDS fellowship application slot available to current CSDE Trainees. The fellowship funding will support a one quarter research stay at the MPIDR any time between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027.  Information about the program, the faculty, and partner institutions can be found here. Applications are due to CSDE by Tuesday, May 26. Apply here.

The Population Association of America invites you to join upcoming fireside chat with the NIH Director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, at the PAA 2026 Annual Meeting, on Friday, May 8, 2026, 1:30 – 2:45pm in the Ferrara Theater (1st Floor) of the America’s Center.  This plenary session, “NIH and the Future of Population Research: A Conversation with the NIH Director”,    will focus on broad issues shaping population research, such as NIH strategic priorities, funding levels, open science/reproducibility, new methods of inquiry/AI, science communication, and the future of social and behavioral research. Professor Will Dow (UC-Berkeley) will moderate.

The Data Science and AI Accelerator pairs eScience Institute data scientists with researchers from any field of study to work on focused, collaborative projects. Collaborations may center on analysis of an existing dataset to answer a specific research question, an implementation of software for processing or analyzing data, data visualization tools, or tools for data interpretation. This program is centered around building capacity — helping researchers to learn the skills and tools they need to do their projects rather than providing people to write code for them. Projects for Summer 2026 must be received by April 26 at 11:59 PM PT.

The call for submissions for the Wittgenstein Centre Conference 2026 (WIC2026) “Demography and Human Capital” is now open! This conference aims to advance theories, data, and multi-dimensional demographic methods for modelling human capital formation and its dynamics over time, and to connect cutting-edge evidence to policy debates globally. Human capital – education, skills, health, and capabilities – is a central driver of demographic change and a key lens for understanding social and economic development.

The UW Middle East Center announces the 2025-26 competition for the Parvin E’tesami Student Support Fund. We invite applications from undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the University of Washington in all disciplines, including international students, who are engaged in the study of the Middle East and North Africa and who will be enrolled at the University of Washington during the 2025-26 academic year. The application deadline is May 5, 2026. Apply now: https://forms.office.com/r/yYvSmDbfUs

The University of Washington is currently inviting nonprofit organizations to submit grant proposals for a practice-based UW course called Social Justice through Philanthropy, in which students develop critical thinking skills and practical knowledge regarding philanthropic giving in support of international issues.  The course represents a unique partnership between The University of Washington’s Law, Societies & Justice Department, and the Philanthropy Lab, a Texas-based foundation that promotes philanthropy education in universities and colleges throughout the United States. This year, Social Justice through Philanthropy will be providing $75,000 worth of grants to international NGOs doing human rights, development, and humanitarian work. The $75,000 will be awarded through one $30,000 grant, two $15,000 grants, and two $7,500 grants in order to support five organizations in total.

This year, the students in Social Justice through Philanthropy have decided to focus their giving to organizations and initiatives broadly promoting five of the Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 3, Good Health & Well-Being; SDG 4, Quality Education; SDG 5, Gender Equality; SDG 13, Climate Action; SDG 16, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. The deadline for proposals is May 6, 2026. To participate, please upload your application here as a single PDF file.

IPUMS will be exhibiting at the PAA 2026 Annual Meeting. Stop by their booth to talk with IPUMS research staff. Share any powered by IPUMS work on the PAA program so we can highlight your session and bring some specialty IPUMS swag for you. IPUMS also invites you to connect at these PAA events:

• Advances and Resources in Linking Full Count Census Data from IPUMS: Wednesday, May 6; 9:00am-2:00pm | America’s Center Room 103
• Harmonizing Geographic U.S. Census Data Across Time: Resources from IPUMS NHGIS: Thursday, May 7; 6:30-7:30pm | Marriott St. Louis Grand - Room L1
• The Future of DHS: Supplemental and Alternative Data Sources: Friday, May 8; 6:00-7:30pm | Marriott St. Louis Grand - Room L6

As a part of its Advancing Well-Being in the Arts Initiative’s Field Studies program, Wallace is interested in funding a small set of research studies that investigate aspects of how community-based arts organizations contribute to the economic mobility of their communities. “Communities” may include organizational staff, artists, audiences, program participants, local constituents served, and/or others as defined in proposals. For this RFP, the Wallace Foundation broadly defines and understands economic mobility, and pathways to economic mobility, as emerging through access to training and preparation, expanded social and professional networks, high quality jobs, as well as to basic needs such as safe neighborhoods, housing, health care, and food. However, we are eager to learn, through the studies to be funded, how arts organizations themselves conceptualize, define, and support economic mobility in their communities. To be invited to submit a full proposal, you must submit a 3-4 page letter of interest by May 12. Learn more here.

Studies in Family Planning is calling for abstract submissions for a special issue on “Rethinking Contraceptive Futures,” by June 30, 2026. This call for abstracts invites contributions that broaden and challenge traditional understandings of contraceptive use, access, and meaning. Contributions may engage explicitly with family planning debates but should foreground contraceptive practices and their evolving meanings within broader social and demographic paradigms. 

The Northwestern Main and Advanced Causal Inference Workshop will hold its 15th annual meeting on Research Design for Causal Inference at Northwestern Law School in Chicago, IL. The  main workshop takes place Monday – Friday, August 3-7,  and the advanced workshop follows, Monday – Wednesday, August 10-12, with an optional machine learning primer on Sunday afternoon, August 9.

What is special about these workshops:

1. World-class speakers working at the frontier of causal inference research 

2. Stata and R Coding sessions with exclusive access to the dedicated repository

In person-registration is limited to 125 participants for each workshop, so hurry up and register for in person attendance!  There will also be a Zoom option, but attending in person is encouraged. Get more information and register now.    (read more)

Studies in Family Planning is calling for submission for a special issue on “Pandemic and Epidemic Impacts on Reproduction, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Family Dynamics: Longer-Term Consequences and Cross-Crisis Perspectives,” due September 15, 2026. The special issue aims to broaden the field by situating COVID-19 within a broader landscape of pandemics and epidemics with demonstrable implications for reproduction, family life, and SRHR. 

The Center for Social Science Computation and Research (CSSCR) released its spring workshop schedule. The bulk of sessions focus on data analysis and analytical methods using Codex, Atlas.ti, Python, R, and Stata. This quarter, CSSCR will also have workshops on how create an academic research poster using PowerPoint.