Seminar in Population*

Professor Karen A. Woodrow-Lafield

Fall 1999 (Mississippi State University)

Sociology 8703

Class Timings
Th, 2:00 to 4:50 pm

Class Location

Contact Info
Office: 214 Bowen Hall, Phone: 601-325-7888,
email: Woodrow_Lafield@Soc.MsState.Edu (currently WoodrowLafield@cs.com )
Website: http://www2.msstate.edu/~karen/ (currently http://home.comcast.net/~karenwoodrowlafield )

Office Hours

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This seminar is designed to be a graduate level survey of the field of population. It is intended for both prospective demographers and non‑demographers. The material in the course encompasses historical trends in population, theoretical issues, and substantive findings. The course is designed to provide a strong general basis for further specialized work in demography, including theses and dissertations. A nonspecialist will gain an introduction to the major research concerns and contemporary issues in the field. The course is nontechnical and efforts are made to link the study of population to the social sciences generally.


Students are regularly given responsibility for particular readings to present to the seminar. A presentation on the demographic conditions in one country (20%) and a review of a recent paper in the field of demography (20%) will be required, as will a final paper (40%) involving a critical study of one aspect of the topics presented. Regular attendance is essential and ongoing participation in discussion (20%) is an integral part of the course. This allocation is subject to revision in the absence of sufficient participation or attendance, and in such cases, the instructor may require written responses to key questions as part of assigning final grades.


Reading assignments include some classic articles, but more recent treatments in the field are featured. The successful conduct of the seminar is predicated on a familiarity with the readings and discussion of the material in meetings. Although the approach is nontechnical and does not presume knowledge of basic demographic methods, students will benefit from having a basic awareness of the demographic calculations on which population arguments are based. The course assumes that those enrolled will make full use of current information technology, including resources available on the World Wide Web. Some required material will be distributed or placed in the departmental lounge for borrowing. Several texts are available in the bookstore.


All of your original, written materials are due December 13. (Note: Academic misconduct is serious, and students should maintain their awareness of the several possible aspects of academic misconduct.)


TEXTBOOKS:

* Cassen, Robert (ed). 1994. Population and Development: Old Debates; New Conclusions. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. REQUIRED
* Cohen, Joel E. 1995. How Many People Can Earth Support? New York: W.W. Norton & Company. REQUIRED
* Farley, Reynolds. 1996. The New American Reality. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. REQUIRED
* Haupt, Arthur and Thomas Kane. 1997. Population Handbook (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Population Reference Bureau. REQUIRED
* Johnson, Stanley P. 1994. World Population - Turning the Tide: Three Decades of Progress. Kluwer Law International. OPTIONAL
* Livi‑Bacci, Massimo. 1992. A Concise History of World Population; Trans. Carl Ipsen. Cambridge, Mass. / Oxford: U.K.: Blackwell. (paperback) REQUIRED
* Massey, Douglas D., Joaquin Arango, Graeme Hugo, Ali Kouaouci, Adela Pellegrino, and J. Edward Taylor. 1998. Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium. Oxford: Clarendon Press. REQUIRED
* Weeks, John R. 1999. Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues 7th edition, Wadsworth (ITS Higher Education). OPTIONAL for some students; REQUIRED for students without prior population courses such as Population Problems and Processes (So 6703) [Please note that SO 8703 does not fulfill the Core II requirement for the graduate degree in sociology.]


READING LIST:


1. INTRODUCTION: WORLD POPULATION: TRENDS AND ISSUES

* Read Noted Demographer John Bongaarts Puts the Facts in Perspective”http://www.popcouncil.org
* Read about U.S. Diversity: More than Black and White http://www.prb.org/pubs/usds99.html
* Read about US in the World: Connecting People and Communities http://www.prb.org/news/usworld.html
* Read http://opr.princeton.edu/resources
* Read Keyfitz, Nathan, 1993, “Thirty Years of Demography and Demography,” Demography 30 (4, November): 533-549.
* Read Van Dalen, Hendrik P. and Kene Henkens, 1999, “How Influential Are Demography Journals?” Population and Development Review 25 (2, June): 229-252.

· Read Carty, Win, 1997, “World Population: Yesterday's News?” Population Today, December, p. 4-5.

· Read Crossette, Barbara, “The World is Less Crowded Than Expected, the U.N. Reports,”New York Times, November 17, 1996

· Read M. Livi‑Bacci, A Concise History of World Population, Ch 1

· Read T. Merrick, "Population Dynamics in Developing Countries," in Cassen, Population and Development

· Read Cohen, Table of Contents

· Read Johnson, Turning the Tide, Ch. 1

· G. Edward Stephan and Douglas S. Massey, 1982, “The Undergraduate Curriculum in Sociology: An immodest proposal,” Teaching Sociology, July. (Also available electronically at http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Articles/82.ts.html)

· McNicoll, Geoffrey. 1992. “The Agenda of Population Studies: A Commentary and Complaint,” Population and Development Review 18(1): 399-420.

· Refer to: Weeks, Ch. 1, 2


2. SYNOPSIS OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND KEY INDICATORS, PART 1

* Read Haupt and Kane, Population Handbook, Malsawma, Zuali H., 1998, “A Researcher's Guide to Population Information Web Sites,”Population Today 26(2, February): 4-5., Also, Gryn, Thomas A. “Internet Resources for Demographers," Population Index 63(Summer, 2): 189-204.

· Read Knodel, John, 1999, “Deconstructing Population Momentum,” Population Today, March, downloadable at http://www.prb.org/poptoday.htm

· Read Farley, New American Reality, Ch. 1, Farley, “Challenges of the 1980s, Challenges for the 1990s,” 1994, Footnotes, American Sociological Association, December, p. 4-5.

· Read Johnson, Turning the Tide, Ch. 1, 11

· See http://popindex.princeton.edu

* Summary of Demographic and Health Research as of April 1998, Demographic and Health Surveys, See http://www.macroint.com/dhs
* Refer to Weeks, Chs. 2, 4


3. DEMOGRAPHIC GROWTH, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINT, AND THE TRANSITION

* Read M. Livi‑Bacci Concise History Chs. 2, 3, 4
* Read Allen C. Kelly and William Paul McGreevy "Population and Development in Historical Perspective," in Cassen.
* Read Theodore Panayotou, "Population, Environment, and Development Nexus," in Cassen.
* T. Malthus, "A Summary View of the Principle of Population" in e.g. On Population, Thomas Malthus, Julian Huxley and Frederick Osborn (New York: The New American Library, 1960) (Mentor?)
* Read National Academy of Sciences, Population Growth and Economic Development: Policy Questions (Washington, DC: 1986). Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4. [find at http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/enter2.cgi?0309036410/html ]
* G. McNicoll, "On Population Growth and Revisionism: Further Questions," Population and Development Review 21 (June 1995): 307‑340.

· P. Ehrlich, A.H. Ehrlich, and G.C. Daily, "Food Security, Population, and Environment," Population and Development Review 19 (March 1993): 1‑32.

· Anne R. Pebley, 1998, “Demography and the Environment," Demography 35 (4, November): 377-389.

* Read Cohen, Chs. 1-9

· Refer to Weeks, Ch. 3, 4, and 6


4. MORTALITY AND TRENDS IN MORBIDITY

* Read B.A. Carnes, S.J. Olshansky, and D. Grahn "Continuing the Search for a Law of Mortality," Population and Development Review 22 (June 1996): 231‑264.

· T. McKeown, R.G. Brown, and R. Record, "An Interpretation of the Modern Rise of Population in Europe," Population Studies 26 (1972): 345‑382.

· Read Kevin M. White and Samuel H. Preston, 1996, “How Many Americans are Alive Because of Twentieth-Century Improvements in Mortality?" Population and Development Review 22 (3, September): 415-430.

· Read Eileen M. Crimmins, Yasuhiko Saito, and Dominique Ingegneri, 1997, “Trends in Disability-Free Life Expectancy in the United States, 1970-1990,”Population and Development Review 23 (3, September): 555-572.

* A.R. Omran, "The Epidemiologic Transition: A Theory of the Epidemiology of Population Change," Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 49 (1971): 509‑538.

· Read S. Watkins and J. Menken, "Famines in Historical Perspective," Population and Development Review 11 (December 1985): 647‑675. And Comments and Reply in PDR 14, pp 145‑170.

* Read J. Riley, "The Risk of Being Sick: Morbidity Trends in Four Countries," Population and Development Review 16 (Sep 1990): 403‑432.

· J. Davanzo, W.P. Butz, and J.‑P. Habucht, "How Biological and Behavioral Influences on Mortality in Malaysia Vary During the First Year of Life," Population Studies 37 (November 1983): 381‑402.

· K. W. Wachter and C.E. Finch (eds.), 1997, Between Zeus and Salmon: The Biodemography of Longevity, National Academy Press.

* Refer to Weeks, Chs. 4, 9



5. SYNOPSIS OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND KEY INDICATORS, PART 2

* Johnson, Ch 1, 11, Annex A
* Refer to Weeks, Chs. 5, 7


6. FERTILITY: TRENDS IN MDC's AND LDC's


* Read Cynthia B. Lloyd, "Investing in the Next Generation," in Cassen.
* Read B. Robey, S. Rutstein, and L. Morris, "The Fertility Decline in Developing Countries," Scientific American December 1993.
* Read J. C. Caldwell, 1997, “The Global Fertility Transition: The Need for a Unifying Theory,”Population and Development Review 23 (4, December): 803-812.

· Read F. Pampel. "Relative Cohort Size and Fertility: The Socio‑political Context of the Easterlin Effect," American Sociological Review 58(1993):496‑514.

* Read J. Bongaarts and S. Watkins, "Social Interaction and the Fertility Transition," Population and Development Review 22(4, December 1996): 639‑682.
* M. Teitelbaum and J. Winter, Fear of Population Decline, Ch. 4.

· Bongaarts, J. "Do Family Planning Programs Reduce Infant Mortality Rates?" Population and Development Review 13:323‑34. See also comments by Trussel and Potter; reply by Bongaarts, PDR Vol 14, pp. 171‑190.

* Read National Academy of Sciences, Population Growth and Economic Development, Ch. 9.
* Refer to Weeks, Ch. 6
* Johnson, World Population, Turning the Tide, Ch 7, 8, 13-16


7. POPULATION DISTRIBUTION: INTERNAL MIGRATION AND URBANIZATION

· Read Farley, R. New American Reality, Ch 7, (Americans on the Move)

* Read D. Lindstrom and D. Massey "Selective Emigration, Cohort Quality, and Models of Immigrant Assimilation," Social Science Research 23(1994): 315‑349.
* Read National Academy of Sciences, Population Growth and Economic Development, Ch. 5.
* A. S. Oberai, "Land Development Policies and Population Redistribution in Developing Countries," International Labor Review 125(1986):141‑161.
* Read A. Goldstein, M. White, and S. Goldstein, 1997, "Migration and Fertility in Hubei Province, China," Demography 34 (4, November): 481-491.
* Refer to Weeks, Chs. 7, 11



8. INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AND ETHNIC DIFFERENTIATION

* Read Michael Teitelbaum and Sharon Stanton Russell, "International Migration, Fertility and Development," in Cassen.
* Read Farley, New American Reality, Ch 2 (A Turning Point in How We View Race, Gender, and Sexuality), Ch 5 (New Americans), Ch 6 (Racial Issues)

· Read D. S. Massey et al., Worlds in Motion, Chs. 1, 2, 3, 6

* Read D. S. Massey, 1999, “International Migration at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century:
* The Role of the State,” Population and Development Review 25 (2, June): 303-322.
* Charles Hirschman, "Immigrants and Minorities: Old Questions for New Directions in
* Research," International Migration Review 16 (1982), pp. 474‑490.

· Refer to Weeks, Chs. 7, 11



9. FAMILY, KINSHIP, AND HOUSEHOLD

* Read J. DaVanzo and M. Omar Rahman "American Families: Trends and Correlates," Population Index 59 (Fall 1993):350‑386.

· Read J. Goody, "Comparative Family Systems in Europe and Asia," Population and Development Review 22 (March 1996): 1‑20.

* Read Farley, New American Reality, Ch. 4 (Changes in American Families).

· Read Hogan, D and D. Lichter "Living Arrangements and the Welfare of Children and Youth," in R. Farley (ed) State of the Union.

* F. K. Goldscheider and C. Goldscheider, 1994, “Leaving and Returning Home in 20th Century America,” Population Bulletin 48(4).
* F.K. Goldscheider and L. Waite. 1991. New Families, No Families. (Berkeley: University of California), Ch. 10, "The Domestic Economy”
* Refer to Weeks, Ch. 10


10. POPULATION COMPOSITION, POVERTY, AND DEMOGRAPHIC RESPONSE

* Read Livi‑Bacci, Concise History Ch. 5 "The Populations of Poor Countries"
* Read Dennis Ahlburg, "Population Growth and Poverty" in Cassen.
* Read Farley, New American Reality Ch 3 (A Turning Point in the Nation's Economy and Whom It Rewards), Ch 8 (The Evidence about America in Decline and the Challenges of the 1990s)
* Read L. Karoly, and G. Burtless. "Demographic Change, Rising Earnings Inequality, and the Distribution of Personal Well‑Being, 1959‑89" Demography 32:379‑405.

· Read D. S. Massey, 1996, “The Age of Extremes: Concentrated Affluence and Poverty in the Twenty-First Century,” Demography 33 (4, November): 395-412.

* N. Astone and S. McLanahan, "Family Structure, Residential Mobility, and School Dropout," Demography 1994

· B. Entwisle, G. Henderson, S. Short, J. Bouma, and Z. Fenying, 1995, "Gender and Family Business in Rural China," American Sociological Review 60:36‑57.

* E. Boserup, "Population, Status of Women, and Rural Development, “Population and Development Review 15 (Suppl. 1989): 45‑60.

· E. Oyen, S. M. Miller and S. A. Samad, 1996, Poverty: A Global Review

* Constance F. Citro and Robert T. Michael, Eds., 1995, Measuring Poverty: A New Approach, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. (also on-line at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/povmeas.html)

· Refer to Weeks, Ch. 12, 13



11. ISSUES IN POPULATION POLICY AND DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

* Livi‑Bacci, Concise History, Epilogue
* Read John Bongaarts, 1996, “Global Trends in AIDS Mortality,” Population and Development Review 22 91, March): 21-47.

· Read John Bongaarts, 1998, “Demographic Consequences of Declining Fertility,”Science 282 (October 16): 419-420.

· Read Kaval Gulhati and Lisa M. Bates, "Developing Countries and the International Population Debate" in Cassen.

* Read Nancy Birdsall, "Government, Population, and Poverty: A Win‑Win Tale" in Cassen.
* Read Cohen, Chs. 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18
* Oppong and R Wery "Women's Roles and Demographic Change in Sub‑Saharan Africa," IUSSP Policy and Research Paper #5 1994.
* Scott and V.C. Chidambaram, "World Fertility Survey: Origins and Achievements," Ch. 1 in Cleland and Hobcraft, Reproductive Change.
* Lori S. Ashford, 1995, “New Perspectives on Population: Lessons from Cairo," Population Bulletin 50 (1, March).
* K. Davis, "The World's Most Expensive Survey," (review), Sociological Forum 2 (Fall, 1987): 829‑834.
* J. Simon, "The Population Establishment, Corruption, and Reform," In G. Roberts, Population Policy.
* P. Donaldson, "On the Origins of the US Government's Population Policy,”Population Studies 44 (Nov 1990): 385‑399.
* Refer to Weeks, Ch. 14