Prospective Students
What is Population Studies?
What does it mean to be a PSTC trainee? How do I affiliate?
Who are the faculty of the PSTC?
What kind of projects do PSTC associates work on?
What is required of graduate students who want to specialize in demography?
Besides research and coursework, what other kinds of activities does the PSTC promote?
What facilities and support exist for PSTC students?Demography - often called population studies - is the study of a broad range of issues affecting human populations. The Population Studies and Training Center (PSTC) is an internationally renowned interdisciplinary demographic research and graduate training center at Brown University. It brings together faculty and graduate students who have interests in population studies.
Traditionally, demographers have worked on topics such as fertility, mortality, and migration. The scope of research at the PSTC encompasses these more conventional areas as well as a much broader range of issues, including environmental change, health (including living with disability and studies of nutrition), gender, family structure, schooling, segregation, and the consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
[top]What does it mean to be a PSTC trainee? How do I affiliate?
The Population Studies and Training Center provides a competitive interdisciplinary predoctoral demography training program conducted as an element of the Ph.D. programs in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Economics departments.
Students who affiliate with the PSTC are known as PSTC "trainees."
The PSTC does not grant degrees - rather, students apply to and are admitted into an affiliated Ph.D. program (Sociology, Anthropology, and Economics) and then complete requirements for a specialization in demography. Admission to these Ph.D. programs is extremely competitive, with only 8-10% of applicants offered admission. Admission to one of our affiliated PhD programs is not determined by how well a candidate matches the interests of faculty here, but rather by evidence of past academic excellence and indication of future promise in the field.
When possible, each department’s admissions committee tries to prospectively identify students who might be potential PSTC trainees, and consults with the PSTC leadership as appropriate. Other students affiliate with the PSTC after enrollment in their graduate programs, sometimes after coursework sparks an interest in demography. Students are matched with PSTC faculty advisors who share their substantive interests in demography – in broad areas such as fertility, migration, and population health – rather than a common interest in a particular region.
Each year approximately 35-40 trainees are active in the program. The relatively small size of the program guarantees that we can offer our students personalized attention and provide them with many opportunities for collaborative research, close interaction with faculty, and outstanding facilities.
Most graduate students affiliated with the PSTC receive full tuition and living stipends. The PSTC also provides funding for qualified students to attend professional conferences, including attendance at the Population Association of America. Students may also submit proposals to the PSTC for funds to conduct exploratory research, fieldwork, and purchase data.
Other opportunities for funding may be available to students through a student's home department, the Graduate School, or external sources.
PSTC alumni hold positions in top academic, non-governmental, and governmental institutions around the world.
[top]Who are the faculty of the PSTC?
Most of the PSTC's faculty associates hold positions in the departments of Sociology, Economics, Anthropology, and Community Health. All have interests in population studies in addition to their disciplinary interests, and so have been appointed as faculty associates of the PSTC. Many PSTC faculty associates have active externally-funded research projects. Some of these projects offer research assistantships or opportunities for students to conduct summer research.
[top]What kind of projects do PSTC associates work on?
Our researchers are engaged in examining diverse population issues both in the U.S. and abroad, with a strong portfolio of research based in low-income countries. We frequently partner with scholars at other universities and institutions to conduct collaborative research.
The PSTC is characterized by its interdisciplinary strength, and PSTC faculty from different departments may collaborate on the same projects. We provide examples below of some current and recent faculty research.
- A sociologist and community health expert study the effects of urbanization on environmental change in coastal Ghana
- Sociologists, medical doctors, and community health experts examine how U.S. families cope with having children with disabilities, and the transition of disabled children to adulthood
- An economist is looking at the determinants and economics of domestic violence; specifically, the relationship between women's earnings and the likelihood of being assaulted
- An anthropologist studies HIV/AIDS risk among young adults in Nigeria
- A team of sociologists researches historical urban change in the U.S., including how neighborhoods in New York and Chicago were segregated by race and ethnicity
- An economist and sociologist are investigating HIV rates among the police force in Mumbai, India
- An anthropologist studies nutrition among recently resettled Liberian refugees living in Rhode Island
- A sociologist researches changing living arrangements for children in Lesotho
(Southern Africa), where many families have lost parents due to the AIDS epidemic- A sociologist and anthropologist collaborate to study why Italy has such low fertility
- An anthropologist has studied how the Russian census promotes different ideas about ethnic identity
- An environmental scientist and an economist examine the effects of energy use in the U.S., Indonesia, and China on climate change
- Several sociologists and an anthropologist are studying the state of reproductive health in Ethiopia, including the need for and access to contraception
- An economist has studied how microfinance programs in Bangladesh affect women's empowerment, health, nutrition, and fertility
- An anthropologist is examining the consequences of infertility in two communities in Nigeria
- A sociologist looked at how the economic situation in Mexican migrants' home communities affect the decision to migrate to the U.S.
- An economist and a GIS (Global Information Systems) expert collaborate to examine air pollution in the New Delhi region of India
- A sociologist studies the impact of the "one-child" policy on families in China
- An anthropologist researched how middle-class men in the U.S. balance work and family
- A sociologist considered how men's migration in Guatemala affects women who remain in their home communities
- An economist investigates the long-term relationships between childhood health and schooling on important dimensions of adult productivity, adult health, migration, and marriage, and inter-generational relations
Student research and dissertation projects are characterized by similar breadth of scope. Some recent graduate student topics include:
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- interethnic marriage decisions in the US
- the impact of the "pill" on early fertility and the educational attainment of women and men in the US
- parents' employment schedules and the allocation of time to children in the US
- HIV testing and sexual behavior in South Africa
- male migration, household decision-making, and the division of resources by gender in Kenya
- land security and household demographic behavior in Nigeria
- modern contraception, women's education, and the timing of births
- the effect of disease on economic growth
- female labor migration in Bangladesh
- the effects of China's one-child policy on children's educational well-being
- how refugees in Guinea define "home"
- the determinants of domestic violence in Mumbai, India
- maternal and child health in coastal areas of Ghana
- discourses of identity among Meshketian Turks in Russia
What is required of graduate students who want to specialize in demography?
Since students are enrolled in one of the three disciplines, they fulfill the degree requirements of their home departments as well as take specialized courses in demography. This includes a course from outside a student's home department, and other electives.
PSTC students also complete other training, including a one-on-one research mentorship with a faculty member, training in research ethics, and active participation in the weekly demography colloquium and other occasional workshops for students. For details about the course of training in a specific department, please see the "Requirements" page, or contact Daniel J. Smith, the PSTC's Associate Director, for more details.
[top]Besides research and coursework, what other kinds of activities does the PSTC promote?
The PSTC is a medium-sized center among others of its type. Our size allows for significant interaction between faculty and students. The PSTC community is active and close-knit. During the academic year, we host a weekly demography colloquium for visiting speakers, and two monthly seminar series. Students also have ample opportunities to meet with visiting speakers to the demography colloquia and other events, thus helping to establish a valuable professional network outside Brown. Graduate students also organize regular events for students to socialize, learn about and critique each other's research, and participate in seminars on topics related to professional development. Opportunities for informal interaction abound in the shared space of Mencoff Hall.
The PSTC prides itself on being an interdisciplinary center where diverse approaches to research are valued. Economists, anthropologists, and sociologists all have different training and consequently different methods to conduct research. The PSTC community promotes activities that introduce various perspectives (such as having visiting speakers from different disciplines), and encourages students to consider the merits and limitations of diverse approaches.
We also maintain active linkages with many other demography centers around the world, including centers in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. PSTC students and faculty are encouraged to consider short-term visits to these other centers.
[top]What facilities and support exist for PSTC students?
In late 2003, the PSTC moved into a beautiful building where students are able to hold seminars and workshops in the PSTC's well-equipped seminar and conference rooms, as well as informal meetings in its public spaces. Many students affiliated with the PSTC are provided their own desks and state-of-the-art PCs in the new building. Students can request that the PSTC purchase software and datasets that are appropriate to their research. Students enjoy computer support, an information specialist who can help to locate printed and electronic resources, and comprehensive administrative support for those seeking assistance with applying for summer and external funding.
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