Sociology Department

Sociology 381 Course Description

Sociology 381: Population and Society

Instructor: Forrest A. Deseran

Class Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 3 - 4:50

Location: Salazar 2013

Description

Sociology 381 is an introduction to the study of population and demography. Many people think that demography is a sort of dry social accounting that has little relevance for their everyday lives. Nothing could be further from the truth. Demography is relevant and an exciting topic. Much of what you experience in life - from popular culture, including the car you drive and the music you like, to important life events, including when you get married (if at all), the number of children you have, and your ability to find a job - is connected to demography. In this course we will focus on three primary demographic processes: mortality, fertility, and migration. For each of these processes we will learn basic concepts, theories, and how they are measured. We will bring these basic demographic concepts to life by linking them to historical and current events. Toward this end, each student will conduct a demographic analysis of his or her own family's history. In addition, we will study in-depth one demographic phenomenon that has had a particularly important impact on California and the Sonoma region - labor migration.

Class participation is an important element of this course. To facilitate class interaction and discussion small discussion groups will be selected at random. These groups will be assigned pertinent issues or reading assignments to discuss among themselves and then to provide feedback to the entire class.

Two texts are planned for the Spring 2005 semester: Weeks, John; R., Population. An Introduction to Concepts and Issues, Ninth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2004 and Rothenberg, Daniel, With These Hands: The Hidden World of Migrant Farmworkers Today, Berkeley: Univ. Of Calif. Press, 1998. In addition, there will be weekly reading assignments from materials posted on the course web site.

Course Objectives

•  To introduce the basic concepts of population studies and develop an appreciation of the demographic perspective.

•  To become familiar with key measurements and methods associated with demographic analysis.

•  To demonstrate how the demographic perspective can help us understand some of the most pressing issues facing our society and societies the world.

•  To develop an understanding of the how our own life experiences are linked to population and demographic processes.