14th Annual De Jong Lecture in Social Demography

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Gender, Demography, and Global Population Health

Susan Short, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, and Director, Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University

The global health of women and girls is negatively affected by high rates of gender-based violence, harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, and global economies that disadvantage women. While maternal mortality has dropped substantially over the past 25 years, approximately 830 women still die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth (WHO 2018). Securing global health and well-being for all will require redressing persistent gender-based inequities and advancing gender justice. How might demographic science contribute?

Dr. Short’s research examines changing social and political environments and their implications for family dynamics, gender, health, and well-being. She has examined economic reform and the one child policy in China, the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Lesotho, and changes in the organization of women’s work and parenting in the U.S. Her recent work integrates social and biological perspectives to investigate the processes through which social experiences are embodied over the life course, producing variation in health and well-being. Short’s research has been funded by the NIH (R01, R03), the NSF, and the Mellon Foundation.

Discussants:

Nancy Luke, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology and Demography, Department of Sociology and Criminology, and Population Research Institute, Penn State. Dr. Luke is a social demographer whose research focuses on the role that social relationships—including gender, marriage, and family—play in shaping health and wellbeing in developing countries.

Keera Allendorf, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology and International Studies, Indiana University. Dr. Allendorf is a sociologist whose research focuses on family, gender and health. Her methods include the analysis of large-scale surveys and ethnographic field work.

Agenda:

8:45 Check-in; Coffee and lite breakfast in Boardroom I

9:00 Susan Short, Ph.D.

10:10 Keera Allendorf, Ph.D.

10:35 Nancy Luke, Ph.D.

11:00 Open discussion

11:45-12:30 Reception for all attendees in Boardroom II

Lecture Sponsors:

The De Jong Lecture in Social Demography is supported by the Gordon F. and Caroline M. De Jong Lectureship in Social Demography Endowment, administered jointly and supplemented by the Department of Sociology and Criminology and by the Population Research Institute at Penn State.

View Previous De Jong Lectures

Gordon F. De Jong is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Demography, former Director of the Graduate Program in Demography, and Senior Scientist Emeritus with the Population Research Institute at Penn State. Caroline M. De Jong, a former middle school teacher, has been involved in numerous community, church, and university-related organizations including the American Association of University Women, Stay-and-Play Nursery School, Presbyterian Women, and the Centre County Board of Elections.