Course summary
Demography, the science of population, is concerned with virtually everything that influences, or can be influenced by, population size, distribution, processes, structure, or characteristics. This course pays particular attention to the causes and consequences of population change. Changes in fertility, mortality, migration, technology, lifestyle and culture have dramatically affected the United States and the other nations of the world. These changes have implications for a number of areas: hunger, the spread of illness and disease, environmental degradation, health services, household formation, the labor force, marriage and divorce, care for the elderly, birth control, poverty, urbanization, and business marketing strategies. An understanding of these is important as business, government, and individuals deal with the demands of the changing population.
Course Canvas Page. We will use Canvas heavily this semester. I will use it to make announcements and you will use it to hand in all assignments. The most critical course links (including to this web page) can be found there. So, just go to Canvas if you forget or lose anything about the course.
Online Readings Packet (In Progress; ND.Edu Netid is required for access)
Discussion Questions are included with the readings. These are questions we will be discussing in class. Most of them are covered in the readings but we'll fill in gaps in class as necessary. Keeping these questions in mind as you go through the readings will help you to focus on some of the most critical points. This list will be updated regularly, at least a few days before we cover the material in class. We will break down into small groups to go over many of these questions. Similar questions will often appear on the exams, so being prepared to discuss these as we go along will be very beneficial to you.
Online Backup. Almost every semester I seem to have a student whose computer crashes or who accidentally deletes the most current version of their paper or has some other problem. I've even had students who had to rewrite their papers from scratch. I therefore strongly encourage you to set up a Cloud Stoeage Account if you do not already have one. I personally try to keep most of my current teaching and research work in Dropbox; that way it is backed up and I also have online access wherever I am. If you set up a Dropbox account use your .edu email address because you can get more bonus storage that way. Or, you may wish to use the Box or Google Drive features offered by Notre Dame. See https://oit.nd.edu/services/collaboration/.
Useful Web Links
Remember, there is a lot of junk on the web! But there are also some excellent scholarly resources. Here are some links that I find particularly helpful.
United States Census Bureau. The main page includes easy access to lots of data, statistics and reports. To find out about your own neighborhood, go here and type in your address. The Census Fast Facts page includes demographic and historical information from 1790 on. The American Community Survey (ACS) helps local officials, community leaders, and businesses understand the changes taking place in their communities. It is the premier source for detailed population and housing information about our nation.
World Population Information (includes both current and historical information on world population)
National Center for Health Statistics (The links for Fastats and Health Topics are especially helpful)
Other useful research-oriented sites include the Population Reference Bureau, The Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research, and the Brookings Institution Center on Metropolitan Policy.
Our library has put together some great online resources for Notre Dame users; the Electronic Journal Access is especially great. Google is a good search engine, but for academic work you'll often do better with Google Scholar and Web of Science. Lexis-Nexis will let you "Search the full text of today's news or search back more than 20 years." The library also has resource pages devoted to the the Social Sciences and other subjects. And, of course, the library has books too! Don't just limit your research to those items that you can access electronically.
