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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

*New* IUSSP Webinar Series: Toward a Demography of Crisis and Resilience (03/03/26)

IUSSP is hosting a webinar, Toward a Demography of Crisis and Resilience, on March 3 at 13:00–14:30 UTC. Register in advance

Crises and shocks are reshaping population dynamics worldwide — from climate disruption and forced displacement to conflict, pandemics, and economic upheaval. What do these shocks mean for fertility, family life, migration, and health? And how can demographers support policy and crisis response when data is incomplete, delayed, or unreliable? This webinar brings the IUSSP plenary session Crises, Shocks and Resilient Populations, first held at IPC2025 in Brisbane last July, to a wider audience. Because the subject deserves broader discussion beyond the conference room, we are opening the conversation to all those who were unable to attend in person.

Join us for a lively roundtable exploring both short-term emergencies and longer-term demographic consequences — and what resilience really means in demographic terms.

Panelists & topics:

  • Roman Hoffmann (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis – IIASA) — The Climate Crisis
  • Orsola Torrisi (McGill University) — Wars and Conflicts
  • Natalie Nitsche (Australian National University) — Pandemics and Health Crises
  • Cassio Turra (Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) — Economic and Political Shocks & Inequalities
  • Arnstein Aassve (Bocconi University)— Resilient Populations

Moderator: Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi (Vienna Institute of Demography)

Q&A Moderator: Nico van Nimwegen (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute – NIDI)

CSSS Seminar: Kush Varshney on “Individual and Collective Human Agency in the Face of ‘AI’” (03/04/26)

Please join us for our next speaker in the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences Seminar Series. Wednesday March 4th at 12:30pm, Kush Varshney, Research Scientist, IBM will give a seminar titled:

Individual and Collective Human Agency in the Face of ‘AI’

This seminar will be offered as a hybrid session. Below please find the abstract and information about joining in-person or on Zoom.

As AI systems increasingly shape our personal, professional, and societal lives, the question is not only what machines can do, but who controls the values and outcomes they produce. This talk examines both individual agency — the capacity to think, judge, and act — and collective agency, where communities define norms, resist imposed standards, and guide AI deployment. Drawing on research in trustworthy AI, decolonial alignment, and human–AI collaboration, I will explore technical and governance approaches that preserve human autonomy, including transparency tools, scoped alignment methods, and collaborative task structures. I will introduce AI platform cooperatives as a counterweight to tech‑company dominance, fostering community ownership, shared governance, and technological self-determination. Ultimately, AI should be a tool that empowers humans, singly and together.

LOCATION: 409 Savery Hall or  Zoom Link & Meeting ID: 916 1200 4486

Questions?
csss@uw.edu
https://csss.uw.edu/

CSDE Biodemography Working Group Meeting (03/05/26)

The CSDE Biomarker Working Group is a forum for discussions of practical and theoretical issues associated with collecting and using biomarker data in social and behavioral science research. This working group is open to all students, faculty, and staff and meets on the first Thursday of each month.

Berney and Co-Authors Research the Benefits of Streateries in Seattle’s University District

CSDE Affiliate Rachel Berney (Urban Design & Planning) and co-authors published the results of a study of right-of-way adaptations in Seattle’s University District that supported urban resilience during the pandemic in the Journal of the American Planning Association. In response to COVID-19, cities permitted streateries (street eateries), which enabled restaurants to operate despite restrictions on indoor uses, and many persisted after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. Berney and co-authors modified and supplemented Seattle’s (WA) Public Life Study protocol to observe and analyze streatery and sidewalk use.  Besides supporting business continuity in a major disruption, streateries and parklets increased low intensity social interactions, chance encounters, and diversity of activities in the ROW, outcomes that correlate with increased social resilience. As a result of this study, Seattle adopted chance encounters as a standard metric in its protocol.