William Frey of the University of Michigan announces Census in the Classroom '98 Workshop and Web Access to undergraduate teaching materials available with the SSDAN (Social Science Data Analysis Network). Funded by NSF and the Department of Education FIPSE, the Network enables college teachers to introduce "user-friendly" analysis of census data in their classes. Tailor-made data sets, from the 1950 through 1990 US censuses, and the Current Population Survey, can be used in a variety of social science classes dealing with topics such as: race-ethnicity, immigration, gender, marriage, households and poverty, income inequality, children, and the elderly. SSDAN staff will help instructors tailor exercises for their own classes, and make them available to other professors in the Network. Interested faculty can participate in the following ways:
WEB ACCESS. The project maintains a website, www.psc.lsa.umich.edu/SSDAN/ which describes the project, available data sets and exercises, and permits downloading of census data sets, that can be accessed with Chipendale software in both IBM and MAC formats. Request a "startup" package, free of charge, by registering through the homepage, emailing William.Frey@umich.edu, or writing to the address below. SUMMER WORKSHOP. A five-day workshop will be held in Ann Arbor, June 19-23, for instructors interested in adopting census data analysis exercises in their classes. For an application, contact SSDAN-STAFF@umich.edu, apply via our web page (above), or write to: William Frey, Director SSDAN, Population Studies Center, 1225 South University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
The 45th North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, to be held in Santa Fe, NM, November 11 to 14, will feature sessions on migration and other population-related topics. Persons wishing to present an individual paper should submit a 150-word abstract by May 1 either by email to rsai@geog.arizona.edu or on disk. Persons wishing to organize sessions should submit tentative outlines by April 1. Abstracts, session outlines and other correspondence concerning the conference should be sent to the Program Co-Chairs Adrian Esparza and Brigitte Waldorf, Department of Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona, Harvill Building, Box #2, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. Fax: 520.621.2889; Email: rsai98@geog.arizona.edu. Further information is available on the web: http:// geog.arizona.edu/rsai98 or contact the Arrangements Chair, David Plane at the above address.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), with institutional cosponsors and partner-ships with California State University at Fresno, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bureau of the Census, US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Geological Survey, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis is currently planning the 1998 GIS in Public Health Conference for August 17-20 in San Diego, California. This conference will highlight innovative applications of GIS (geographic information systems) and spatial analysis techniques for the protection of public health and the environment. Abstracts describing research in the protection of human health through the use of GIS are now being solicited for the August conference. Complete conference details can be obtained on ATSDR's home page: http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/GIS/conference/ Or contact: Bill Henriques, PhD, MSPH, Conference Steering Committee Chair, GIS Coordinator, ATSDR, Phone: 404.639.6088; Fax: 404.639.6076; Email: wdh2@cdc.gov
The Centre for Population Studies at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine offers a four week short course in Reproductive Health Research which will start on June 22 and end on July 17. The course introduces participants to the principles and methods of effective social and demographic research in this field, and concentrates on the design of policy oriented research and methods of evaluating the impact of programs. It is suitable for those with research interests in this field and for managers and others who wish to commission or use research results. Enquiries to: Short Courses, Registry, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street (Gower Street) London WC1E 7HT, England.
The Luxembourg Income Study Summer Workshop is a one week pre- and post-doctoral workshop designed to introduce young scholars in the social sciences to comparative research in income distribution and social policy using the LIS database. The LIS has made comparable over 75 large microdata sets which contain comprehensive measures of economic well-being for a set of over 25 modern industrialized welfare states. The LIS databank currently covers countries including: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. LIS is also negotiating with Japan, Korea, Greece, Portugal, New Zealand and South Africa. The 1998 introductory workshop will be held in Differdange, Luxembourg with arrival the evening of July 19th and departure the afternoon of July 25th. Tuition of 36,000 FLUX (currently ~US$960) double occupancy or 46,000 FLUX (currently ~US$1225) single occupancy will cover instructional materials, new dormitory rooms, and full board. Transportation to and from Luxembourg is the responsibility of the student. The language of instruction will be English. The course of study will include a mix of lectures and assistance and direction using the LIS database to explore a research issue chosen by the participant. Workshop faculty will include the entire LIS staff (including Timothy Smeeding, Overall Project Director; Lee Rainwater, Research Director; John Coder, Technical Director; and Koen Vleminckx, Operations Manager) and other experienced LIS users. For more information about the workshop, contact: Kati Foley, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1020 USA; Email: lisaa@maxwell.syr.edu; or Caroline de Tombeur, LIS at CEPS/INSTEAD, B.P. 48, L-4501 Differdange, LUXEMBOURG; Email: caroline@lissy.ceps.le. For an application form, due May 1, see: http://lissy.ceps.lu/index.htm.
The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research is sponsoring a summer workshop on family/household modeling and applications to be held in Rostock, Germany, from July 27 to August 2. The workshop, to be conducted in English, will bring senior scientists in the field, such as Kenneth Wachter, Jane Menken, Frans Willekens, Charlotte Hohn, Thomas Burch, Nico Keilman, and Zeng Yi together with promising young scholars to review state-of-the-art methods and applications of family/household modeling, and future research directions. The workshop will focus on three main topics: 1) theoretical questions concerning the effect of demographic changes on family and household structure; 2) conducting policy analysis to achieve sound policy-making; 3) forecasting family/household structure for socio-economic planning. ProFamy, a user-friendly program for household projection, will be provided to participants free of charge along with the necessary training for using this and other household-projection software. Participants should seek funding for travel to and from Rostock. Food, lodging, and local transportation will be paid for by the Max Planck Institute. A limited number of travel grants are available for participants from developing countries. To apply, send CV, 1-2 page letter stating current research interests relating to the field; and for applicants who have not yet received a PhD, 2 letters of recommendation by April 15 to: Summer Workshop on Family/Household Modeling, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Doberaner Strasse 114 D-18057 Rostock, Germany. Phone: 49.381.2081.102; Fax: 49.381.2081.202; Email: workshop@demogr.pg.de. Successful applicants will be notified by May 15.
The Summer Seminar, East-West Center (EWC), Program on Population will hold four workshops, conducted concurrently from May 28 through June 27 at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The workshop topics and staff are: 1) Researching Sensitive Issues in Sexuality and Reproductive Health (Peter Xenos, EWC; Nancy Yinger, International Center for Research on Women); 2) Getting the Most Out of the 2000 Round Census Results (Griffith Feeney, EWC; Sam Suharto and Uwe Deichmann, UN Statistics Division); 3) Communicating Population and Health Research to Policymakers (Sidney Westley, EWC; Alene Gelbard and Rhonda Smith, Population Reference Bureau); 4) Health-Care Financing (Gerard Russo, EWC). The workshops focus on the Asia-Pacific region and participants will be drawn from Asia, the Pacific and the United States. For announcement brochure and application forms, due February 27, contact Summer Seminar, East-West Center, Program on Population, 1601 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96848-1601; Phone: 808.944.7762 or 808.944.7410; Email: Sumsem98@ewc.hawaii.edu; or see http://www.ewc.hawaii.edu and select the Program on Population. Application forms can be downloaded from the website.