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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

Creating Moves to Opportunity: Experimental Evidence on Barriers to Neighborhood Choice

This Friday, Stefanie DeLuca from Johns Hopkins University’s Sociology Department will present results from a study about upward income mobility and barriers to neighborhood choice. The premise of their research begins with the observation that low-income families in the US tend to live in neighborhoods that offer limited opportunities for upward income mobility. DeLuca and co-authors evaluate several explanations for this observed pattern. One explanation is that families prefer such neighborhoods for other reasons, such as affordability or proximity to jobs. An alternative explanation is that they do not move to high-opportunity areas due to various barriers. Their study employs a randomized controlled trial with housing voucher recipients in Seattle and King County. They conclude that redesigning affordable housing policies to provide customized assistance in housing search could reduce residential segregation and increase upward mobility substantially.

Register for Stefanie DeLuca’s Zoom Seminar HERE

Graduate Certificate in International Humanitarian Response

The Population Health Initiative will begin accepting applications for the 2020-21 cohort of students for the Graduate Certificate in International Humanitarian Response on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. Applications can be submitted until 11:59 p.m. (Pacific) on Tuesday, April 28, 2020.

The certificate is intended to provide University of Washington graduate and professional students from a variety of disciplines with an integrated body of study to better support prevention, mitigation, response and recovery from crises to assist those affected by disasters to recover their “normal” way of life.

The 15-credit curriculum for the certificate offers admitted students a solid grounding in the fundamental skillsets needed by any international humanitarian worker, regardless of their specific role. In particular, the core curriculum was chosen to ensure the certificate integrates the work of the immediate and mid-term humanitarian response to a disaster with longer-term development activities in a disaster-prone region.

The certificate is offered as an interdisciplinary program through the University of Washington Graduate School.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

This is an offer for a 3-year, full time Post-Doctoral Researcher position and another offer for a PhD contract at Sciences Po-CSO within the framework of a joint ANR-DFG (Agence nationale de la recherche and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) research project on the emergence of a new intellectual property regime in Europe. The project is entitled “Unified – Transnational institutionalization from interregional diversity: The emergence of the European Unified Patent Court“. It will be carried out in collaboration with the University of Heidelberg. The deadline for applications is 15 May 2020. The research programme starts in September 2020. Related publications are available here:

Global Washington Webinars

Global Washington hosts numerous trainings and educational events each month, ranging from small workshops on topics like communications, fundraising and nonprofit management, to larger speaker events, to VIP events with policymakers. Additionally, our annual conference convenes the international development community on the west coast, including top NGO practitioners, CSR business executives, research experts, philanthropists and others working on global issues.

GlobalWA will be doing all events in a webinar format for the foreseeable future. Please check our past events page for past topics and check back here for our future weekly webinar topics. For more information on COVID-19, check out GlobalWA’s Resource Page.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

We are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to work within the Queensland Centre for Population Research on two multi-institution migration-related projects recently funded by the Australian Research Council. The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will make academic contributions to both projects by conducting statistical analysis and contributing to journal paper publications, conference presentations and stakeholder consultation workshops. The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will work with project collaborators in other institutions in Australia and China and will also have the opportunity to co-supervisor PhD students.

This position is located at our picturesque St Lucia campus, renowned as one of Australia’s most attractive university campuses, and located just 7km from Brisbane’s city centre. Bounded by the Brisbane River on three sides, and with outstanding public transport connections, our 114-hectare site provides a perfect work environment – you can enjoy the best of both worlds: a vibrant campus with the tradition of an established university.

Postdocs/Research Scientists in Digital and Computational Demography

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) is recruiting highly qualified Post-Docs/Research Scientists, at various levels of seniority, to join the Lab of Digital and Computational Demography.

MPIDR is one of the leading demographic centers in the world. It is part of the Max Planck Society, a network of more than 80 institutes that form Germany’s premier basic-research organization. Max Planck Institutes have an established record of world-class, foundational research in the sciences, technology, social sciences and the humanities. They offer a unique environment that combines the best aspects of an academic setting and a research laboratory.

The Lab of Digital and Computational Demography, headed by MPIDR Director Emilio Zagheni, is looking for candidates with a background in Demography, Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Social Psychology, Geography, Applied Mathematics, Public Health, Public Policy, or related disciplines.

Two Postdoctoral Researcher Positions

Two postdoctoral appointments are offered for social scientists with excellent analytical and writing skills that have recently completed their PhD or will complete it by the summer of 2020. The candidates will join the project “Healthy lifespan inequality: Measurement, trends and determinants”, funded by the European Research Council as a Consolidator Grant to Dr. Iñaki Permanyer and hosted by the Center for Demographic Studies (CED) in Barcelona. HEALIN is a 5-year project that will start in June 2020.

Call for Papers: Wittgenstein Centre Conference 2020 on the Demographic Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Consequences

COVID-19 is causing serious health, social and economic challenges, several of which are directly related to demographic factors. Given that older persons have a weaker immune system and are likely to have underlying chronic illness, they are particularly vulnerable to viruses like SARS-CoV-2. The severity of COVID-19 thus does not depend only on a country’s health system and policy measures, but also on age structure, regional distribution and social behavior. In countries like Italy and Spain, where 7% and 6.2% of the population was aged over 80 in 2018 (compared to 5.6% in the EU-28 on average) coupled with more intensive intergenerational social contact, demographic and family factors may have played a key role in determining vulnerability to COVID-19. How severe the consequences of the pandemic will be outside of Europe also depends on demographic, social, economic and political factors.

While the initial efforts focus on slowing the spread of the pandemic and mitigating its immediate impact, significant demography-related consequences are expected in the longer term, ranging from the way our economies function in terms of labor markets and migration, to family related behavior (including possible effects on fertility), international travel patterns and social and health care policies, as well as to how the economic burden can be shared fairly across the population.

This conference aims to bring together researchers from around the world working on COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences from a demographic perspective.

Spring 2020 Geriatric Healthcare Series on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

The NW Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Center – in  collaboration with the UW School of Nursing and the VA Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center – is offering the Spring 2020 Geriatric Healthcare Lecture Series focused on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias!

 We are pleased to be able to offer once again this popular series of interdisciplinary lectures on Geriatric Healthcare.  These lectures are available locally to students/faculty/staff across our three campuses and community professionals on Tuesdays, Mar 31 – Jun 2, from 4:00-5:30 in the UW Health Sciences Building, T-wing, Room T661.  The topics and other information are listed below.  There is no charge for attending any one or all of the lectures, unless you want academic course credit (see “important note” below) or continuing education contact hours (information will be provided at the lectures for CE registration).

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR UW STUDENTS WANTING TO REGISTER FOR THE ONLINE SERIES FOR 1 ACADEMIC CREDIT: Please consult the Time Schedule and register online for either NURS499B or NURS599B-“Geriatric Health Promotion” (Barbara Cochrane, instructor).  This is an ONLINE 1 credit, interdisciplinary course; the lectures are available “asynchronously” via video stream.  If you want to attend the lecture in-person AND get academic credit, that works too.

REGISTER HERE!

3/31   Dementia – Stephen Thielke, MD, MSPH, Professor, UW, VA Puget Sound Health Care System

4/7 3Ds of Diagnosis – Emily Truttschuh, PhD, Associate Professor, UW Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, VA Puget Sound Health Care System

4/14 Ethical Dilemmas in the Care of Older People with Cognitive Impairment – Elizabeth Vig, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, UW, VA Puget Sound Health Care System

4/17 Rational Preventive Care for in the Context of AD – Amy Thomas, MD, Research Fellow, VA Puget Sound Health Care System

4/21   Caring for the Caregiver – Carrie Rubenstein, MD, MPH, Geriatrician and Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program Director, Swedish Medical Center

4/28 The Threatening or Violent AD Patient – Whitney Carlson, MD, Harborview Mental Health, Nursing Home Service

5/5 Dementia and Multiple Chronic Conditions – Amy Thomas, MD, Research Fellow, VA Puget Sound Health Care System

5/12 Behavioral Management in AD: An Evidence-based Approach – Susan McCurry, PhD Research Professor, Vice Chair of Research, University of Washington, School of Nursing

5/19   Care Planning for Early AD – Lauren Carpenter, MD, Clinical Instructor, Staff Physician, Geriatrics and Extended Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System Professor

5/26 Cognitive Assessment in Primary Care – Thuan Ong, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Section Chief, Post-Acute Care Service, University of Washington

Don’t forget! April 1st is Census2020 Day!

There is so much we are juggling in these times, however, don’t let slip this very important national effort – the 2020 Census. It shapes our future and means so much for our communities.  The census count determines federal funding which underwrites vital public services and public goods for all of us. The census count informs congressional redistricting. And, the census count contributes towards valuable basic scientific research and research for evidence based policy and more…!  

You might be wondering why is April 1st Census Day, when this year’s census data collection began March 12, 2020 and continues until August 14, 2020. There is a good reason. When you complete the census (via mail, online or phone), you will be asked about your normal place of residence on April 1st of this year. Hence the label! 

There are many reasons why this year is very unusual and challenging for the decadal census.  The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many challenges.  It will take extra efforts among all of us to encourage and facilitate census participation.  Visit this link  to find ways to help the effort or participate yourself.  

For college students, completing the decennial census form has always created confusion—and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this confusion.  College students are supposed to be counted at their “normal” place of residence on April 1. For many students, this is the location of their college or university. Students should still be counted as residents at their “normal” address during the academic year even though they have left campus. Students who normally live in on-campus or college-owned housing are counted as part of the Census Bureau’s group quarters enumeration. Students who live at home normally should be included in their household’s response form.

The Census Bureau has produced a short video and fact sheet to clarify how college students are to be counted.  For more information, a prominent demographer authored an article on this topic in a recent issue of The Conversation.

Another challenge for the census was last year’s very public debate about the inclusion of a citizenship question on the census form.  Everyone should know that the U.S. courts ruled against the inclusion of a citizenship question on the census form. It is NOT on the census form.  Furthermore, your census information is kept confidential and your responses are kept anonymous.  The Census Bureau is bound by law to protect your answers and your answers may not be used against you. For more information on this please visit this link.

A third challenge is the additional and new online mode for census data collection. The online guide for the census form offers information in a number of languages and offers you a preview of the census questions you will be asked.  It can help to familiarize yourself with the questions before you complete the form.  

For all of us with demography running deep in our veins, join along by sending a tweet or instagram post indicating you’ve completed the census and link to @CSDE_UW.  Let’s join the #Census2020 team!