Population Studies Certificate

Contact Information

Douglas Anderton, Director
W36D Machmer Hall, 240 Hicks Way
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9278

Phone: (413) 577-1773
E-mail: dla@sadri.umass.edu

The program in Population Studies prepares undergraduate students for careers requiring demographic skills or for entering graduate programs in related areas. The program is not a major in itself. It requires 15 semester hours of course work, some of which may satisfy other University and major requirements. Applications of demographic analysis to the problems of human ecology are illustrated in the preparation of population estimates and forecasts, family planning, aging, migration, marriage and family structure, labor markets, gender and environmental impact analysis, as well as the academic study of communities.

Successful completion of the program leads to a Certificate in Population Studies attesting to a special competence in the application of demographic skills in solving problems in population-environment relations. The certificate requirements cover introductory work in population, culture and society, and population and human ecology; then, preparation in demographic methods leads to a choice of course work offered by members of the participating faculty. Work on the certificate concludes with a seminar in the senior year. The Population Methods Course (SOC 363) satisfies the analytic reasoning requirement (R2) in the General Education program. Students enrolling in this course are expected to have a score of 20 on the Mathematics Placement Test (or its equivalent). In the course of their studies, students are urged to gain familiarity with a computing package such as Excel, Quattro Pro or Stata, any of which may be used in their coursework.

Required Courses

1. Conceptual introduction to demography (SOC 261-Population Studies or equivalent).
2. Population methods (SOC 363-Techniques of Demographic Analysis).
3. Topical courses: two courses involving the application of demography to a particular subject area (for example, SOC 565-Sociology and Ecology of the Community; ANTH 208-Human Ecology; GEO 370-Urban Geography; GEO 530-Population and Environment; SOC 244-Sociology of Migration; SOC 222-The Family).
4. Seminar: at least one senior- or graduate-level seminar on a topic employing demographic analysis. If none are available, an independent study course with a professor qualified in demography may be substituted (for example, an independent study in the demography of disability, aging or women’s health in developing countries).

In the cases of requirements 1, 3 and 4, students should seek advice and approval of their choices from the Program Director.