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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

Associate Professor of Statistical and Social Science

The Department of Sociology and the Department of Statistical Sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto invites applications for a joint (51% Statistical Sciences, 49% Sociology) tenure-stream appointment. The appointment will be at the rank of Assistant Professor and will begin on July 1, 2018.

We are interested in candidates from all areas of sociology and statistical science whose research program advances both disciplines. We are particularly interested in exceptional candidates who transcend traditional statistical and sociological research topics, who complement our existing strengths, and who are working on non-traditional areas at the cutting edge of both disciplines.

Applicants must have a PhD in Sociology, Statistics or a closely related field by the time of appointment or shortly thereafter, and must demonstrate excellence in teaching and research. Evidence of research excellence will consist of publications in top ranked and field-relevant academic journals, presentations at top conferences, research awards and accolades, and strong endorsements by referees of top international stature. Evidence for excellence in teaching is based on strong letters of reference and a teaching dossier containing a strong statement of teaching philosophy, teaching accomplishments and evaluations.

The University of Toronto is an international leader in sociology and statistical science research and education. Successful candidates are expected to pursue independent, innovative research at the highest international level; to establish a strong externally funded independent research program; to have a strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate teaching, and to contribute to the enrichment of both Departments. The successful candidate will join a vibrant intellectual community of world-class scholars at Canada’s leading University. The Greater Toronto Area offers amazing cultural and demographic diversity and one of the highest standards of living in the world.

Salary to be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Applicants should apply online AcademicJobsOnline, academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/9847, and include a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, research and teaching statements, as well as a teaching dossier. Applicants should also arrange to have at least three letters of reference (on letterhead and signed) uploaded through AcademicJobsOnline directly by the writers.

Review of applications will begin on October 31, 2017 and applicants should endeavor to have all materials submitted by then, however applications will be accepted until position is filled.

For more information about the Departments of Statistical Sciences and Sociology, please visit our websites at www.utstat.toronto.edu and sociology.utoronto.ca. If you have questions about the position, please contact Katrina Mintis at katrina.mintis@utoronto.ca or Tina Colomvakos at tina.colomvakos@utoronto.ca.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Assistant Professor of Sociology

The Department of Sociology invites applications for two positions in the field of law and society, broadly construed to include criminology, criminal justice, and sociology of law. One position is for a tenure-track assistant professor. The second position is for an associate or full professor. The teaching load is normally two courses per semester and includes teaching graduate and undergraduate students. Both positions require a PhD degree in sociology or related field such as criminology or criminal justice at the time of employment. Purdue offers competitive salaries. The university is located in an affordable metropolitan area of 167,000 people, conveniently located between Indianapolis and Chicago.

Applicants for both positions should send: 1) a letter of application to “Search Chair”; 2) curriculum vitae; 3) two samples of recent written work; 4) a statement of research interests; and 5) a statement of teaching interests, experience, and effectiveness. Please include each of these components as a separate attachment to a single email. Assistant professor applicants should send their materials to socjrsearch@purdue.edu. Associate/full professor applicants should send their materials to socsrsearch@purdue.edu. Applicants for the assistant professor position should also submit three letters of reference separately, via direct email from references or through a third-party reference service. Applicants for the associate/full professor position will be asked to submit two letters of reference after an initial screening of applicants. Applicants for both positions should submit the required material by October 2, 2017, but applications received after this date may be accepted until the positions are filled.

A background check is required for employment in this position. Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin or ancestry, genetic information, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability or status as a veteran.

Purdue University’s Department of Sociology is committed to advancing diversity in all areas of faculty effort, including scholarship, instruction, and engagement. Candidates should address a least one of these areas in their cover letter, indicating their past experiences, current interests or activities, and/or future goals to promote a climate that values diversity and inclusion.

Assistant Professor of Public Policy

The Department of Public Policy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill seeks to fill a tenure-track assistant professor of public policy, effective July 1, 2018.

We seek a social scientist (with a preference for public policy, sociology, demography, psychology or anthropology) with policy-relevant research and teaching interests in poverty, inequality, stratification and/or immigration or migration with a focus on the Americas.

Interested candidates should provide a cover letter which describes the candidate’s research and teaching interests and articulates the candidate’s rationale for seeking a position in an interdisciplinary academic unit; a CV; four (4) letters of reference from tenured professors at the associate level or higher; and samples of written or published work.

All materials should be attached to the electronic application online at https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/127504. Letters of reference can be emailed to publicpolicy@unc.edu.

Review of applications will begin in mid-October and continue until the position is filled. For more on UNC Public Policy, see http://publicpolicy.unc.edu/.

Infectious Change: Reinventing Chinese Public Health After an Epidemic

On Wednesday 4 October 2017, the Medical Anthropology and Global Health Seminar Series is pleased to present:

 “Infectious Change: Reinventing Chinese Public Health after an Epidemic”

Katherine Mason, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Brown University

Wednesday October 4, 2017

3:30 – 4:50 PM

Kane Hall, Room 110

 

Abstract

In this talk, Dr. Mason discusses how the 2003 SARS epidemic led to a transformation in China in how public health is understood, formulated, and performed. She explores how the Chinese public health system, once famous for its grassroots, low-technology approach, was transformed into a globally-oriented, research-based scientific endeavor – and how local communities may be suffering as a result.

Dr. Mason is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brown University, and is affiliated with the Population Studies and Training Center, and the Program in Science and Technology Studies, both at Brown University. She received her PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University. Her research brings together insights from medical anthropology, population health, global health, China studies, and gender studies, among other disciplines. In her work, Mason focuses on understanding how “populations” and “communities” are created and conceptualized, especially in the field of public health, and how people form relationships with these kinds of abstract entities. In 2016, she published her book, titled Infectious Change: Reinventing Chinese Public Health after an Epidemic (Stanford University Press). Mason’s work has appeared in many journals, such as American Ethnologist, Medical Anthropology, Focaal, and The China Journal.

 

 Next speaker: 11 October –Janelle S. Taylor, Professor of Anthropology, University of Washington

“Engaging with Dementia: Friendship and Abandonment at the Margins of Social Personhood”

 

For more information about the speaker series, please contact the coordinator: Marieke van Eijk (mariev2@uw.edu)

 

Institute for Public Health Genetics Symposium

The Institute for Public Health Genetics at the University of Washington is pleased to invite you to our 2017 Public Health Genomics in Seattle Symposium.

This 2017 symposium has the honor of hosting two presentations:

  1. Lara Mangravite who is the president of Sage Bionetworks will participate with the presentation: “Community-based approaches in biomedical research to advance disease treatment and health monitoring”.
  2. Patrick Danaher who leads the biostatistics team at NanoString Technologies, Inc will present his talk: “Realizing the clinical potential of gene expression”.

 

Event details:

Date: Thursday October 12th, 2017

Start time: 2:00 pm

Location: Orin Smith Auditorium at the UW South Lake Union campus (850 Republican Street, Building C, Seattle, WA).

Parking: UW Building garage is available for parking on site, please see fees at the gate.

Schedule:

2:00 – 2:45 PM: “Community-based approaches in biomedical research to advance disease treatment and health monitoring” Presenter: Lara Mangravite – President, Sage Bionetworks

2:45 – 3:15 PM: Realizing the clinical potential of gene expression”
Presenter: Patrick Danaher – Principal Biostatistician, NanoString Technologies, Inc.

3:15 – 4:00 PM: Networking Reception

6:30 PM: Free screening and panel discussion of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”

 

There is no charge for this symposium. However, registration is requested due to space availability.

Please register at: https://goo.gl/forms/h4TlYSvObF9XDnAy2

Introduction to GIS

CSDE is offering a series of two, three-hour workshops on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using esri’s ArcMap software. It assumes no prior experience with GIS. The workshop will take place across two consecutive Mondays, beginning October 2, 2017. Sessions run from 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM in Savery 117.

This workshop will begin by presenting an overview of the basic concepts of Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Armed with an understanding of what GIS is, students will complete a hands-on tutorial introducing ESRI’s ArcGIS software. Topics covered during the first week’s lab will include: working with GIS data, simple data queries, and map creation (symbolization, labeling, layout and export). Building on the basic concepts covered during the first week, week 2 will focus entirely on hands-on training in GIS for demographic research. Topics covered in the second week’s lab will include: acquiring GIS and census data, synthesizing multiple data sources, and basic GIS analysis.

Assistant Professor in Global Health

The Center for Medicine, Health, and Society (MHS) at Vanderbilt University invites applications for a joint tenure-track Assistant Professor position with MHS and Public Policy, to begin fall semester 2018.  We seek an interdisciplinary scholar who will have a tenure-track home in MHS and teaching duties in both MHS and Public Policy.  Field of specialization is open, with preference for an interdisciplinary social scientist, theorist, or policy scholar whose work explores critical approaches to global health policies or institutions, global health inequities or disparities, global health politics and economies, or points of continuity between the so-called Global South and the US South. Regional specialty is open to scholars conducting research in any part of the world.  Strong research skills and the ability to obtain external funding are highly desirable.  The university is home to a strong network of global health researchers, and there are collaborative opportunities with multiple Arts and Science departments as well as in the School of Medicine.

Vanderbilt expects excellence in teaching and in research.  PhD is required by August 16, 2018.  To apply, please submit 1) a letter describing your research/teaching interests and professional experience; 2) curriculum vitae; 3) two samples of your scholarly writing; 4) available evidence of teaching effectiveness; and 5) three letters of reference.  These materials should be addressed to Jonathan Metzl and Dominique Behague, Co-Chairs, Global Health Search Committee, and submitted via the Interfolio portal: http://apply.interfolio.com/44137

Applications will be reviewed starting October 1, 2017 and continue until the position is filled.  Please contact Jonathan Metzl (jonathan.metzl@vanderbilt.edu) or Dominique Behague (dominique.behague@Vanderbilt.Edu) with any questions.

Message from CSDE Director, Sara Curran

Welcome back to the academic year! Thanks to the good news about the renewal of CSDE’s research infrastructure grant from NICHD’s Population Dynamics Branch, CSDE starts the academic year with renewed energy and new plans.  You can read about the award here. Notably, the strong support from the College of Arts & Sciences and from units across UW means that we can grow our support for UW’s community of population scientists.  We’re looking forward to working with all of you over the next five years!

To celebrate, please join us on September 29 at 12:30 in the Peterson Room in Allen Library for a celebration of our grant renewal, graduate student successes, and your own achievements!

To meet the objectives of our renewed infrastructure grant, CSDE has recently undergone a reorganization.  Instead of one Associate Director, we now have a Development Core Director, Professor Steve Goodreau (Anthropology) and a Science Core Director, Professor Kyle Crowder (Sociology). They join myself and Training Director, Associate Professor Emilio Zagheni (Sociology & eScience Institute).

Under Steve Goodreau’s direction, the Development Core includes the seminar series, an elaborated seed grant program, and specific activities within CSDE’s Primary Research Areas (PRAs). Chaired by Associate Professor Rachel Heath (Economics), CSDE’s weekly seminar series is on Fridays at 12:30pm. The new seed grant program will solicit proposals quarterly, as well as consider smaller requests on a rolling basis.  Expect to hear more about this soon! The Development Core includes specific activities within each Primary Research Area (PRA). PRA Chairs are beginning to develop plans now, but they would love to hear your ideas. Heather Hill (Evans Public Policy & Governance) is chairing Well-being of Families and Households, Ann Bostrom (Evans Public Policy & Governance) is chairing Environments & Populations, Mark Ellis (Geography) is chairing Migrations & Settlements, David Grembowski is chairing Health of People & Populations, and I am serving as chair of Demographic Measurements & Methods in an interim capacity, while Adrian Raftery (Statistics & Sociology) is on leave.

Under Kyle Crowder’s direction, the Science Core identifies and implements ways for CSDE to fill research infrastructure needs at UW and, most importantly, tailor CSDE’s scientific research support to fit the needs of your research agenda.  Dr. Matt Dunbar, CSDE’s Assistant Director and a Geographer, and Matt Weatherford, CSDE’s Computing Resources Director, help lead the Science Core’s activities.  They are joined by Dr. Cori Mar, CSDE’s statistician, and Ellie Brindle, managing CSDE’s Biodemography Lab. The Science Core staff works closely with our Training Program to offer a regular workshop series for growing your population science tool kit.  Students, staff and faculty are welcome to sign up for workshops. CSDE will soon search for a new research scientist to join the Science Core as an applied statistical demographer!

Under Emilio Zagheni’s direction, CSDE’s Training Program continues apace.  The Certificate Program is managed by Dr. Aimee Dechter and is actively seeking new enrollees.  Soon there will be a call for applications to our fellowship program for fellow appointments to begin 2018-19.  Also on the agenda for this year will be an application to NICHD to renew our T32 Training Grant.  Finally, a new development in the Training Program are ongoing, hands-on workshops for faculty and students. If you have one that you’d like to initiate, don’t hesitate to propose one. Currently, Emilio runs a monthly Computational Demography Workshop where students, staff and faculty share code, data, projects, and research challenges.

I direct CSDE’s Administrative Core, which includes support for grants, budgeting, hiring, events, travel, and communication.  We can provide you with support on your grants from start-to-finish, budget projections and reconciliations, help with project management, meeting rooms and conference calling support, help in spreading the news about your research, and support with hiring appointments. We can also be the first place you turn to for who to talk with when trying to get your project off the ground or sustained.  Thanks to the Evans School support for an RA, we have a fabulous information and communication specialist, Olivia Hill, who is pursuing an MPA at UW.  Olivia is in 223 Raitt Hall, while the rest of the team (anchored by Thalia Freamon and Joanna Medina) are all in 206 Raitt Hall. Please stop by.

New academic years are also times of transitions. There have been several, but I will just mention one: over the summer, Professor Stewart Tolnay transitioned from a full-time faculty appointment to emeritus faculty.  We will be celebrating Stew’s accomplishments on October 6 from 1-7:30pm, during a symposium (Walker-Ames Room, Kane Hall) and reception (Hotel Deca) co-hosted with the Department of Sociology. Stew served as CSDE’s Associate Director from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017.  But, over the years Stew supported at least four CSDE directors, in a large number of capacities.  As you can see in my preceding description, Stew’s mighty contributions and service to CSDE have been replaced by two people, not one. That says it all.  We’re looking forward to celebrating with him on October 6! Please rsvp to the event to: socws@uw.edu

Last but not least, over the last year, we’ve welcomed 11 new research affiliates to CSDE’s community of Population Scientists.  Our new affiliates bring with them exciting research agendas; they include Ruanne Barnabas (Global Health), Elena Erosheva (Statistics), Dan Goldhaber (School of Social Work), Himanshu Grover (Urban Design & Planning), Carole Lee (Philosophy), Anita Rocha (School of Social Work), Noah Snyder-Mackler (Psycology), Janelle Taylor (Anthropology), Ott Toomet (Information School), and Claire Yang (Jackson School of International Studies). In addition, CSDE is happy to announce that Dr. David Swanson has joined as a regional affiliate.  Dr. Swanson is an applied demographer, recently retired from UC Riverside.  Dr. Swanson recently edited the volume, Frontiers of Applied Demography (Springer).

On behalf of all of us at CSDE, here’s to a productive year and we look forward to seeing you on September 29 to celebrate.

 

Scott Allard Discusses New Census Data on Poverty Rates

Affiliate Scott Allard, Professor at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, was quoted in an Atlantic article about new Census data that indicate improvements in the nation’s poverty rate. According to Allard, who published the book Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty earlier this year, “it looks like the labor market growth is finally reaching down to some of our most vulnerable populations.” Allard is still concerned, however, that these economic improvements may detract attention from crucial policy issues relating to poverty. “We are seeing lots of positive developments, but that doesn’t mean we should be cutting our safety net,” he said. You can access the full article below.