Population and Place
This exciting area
brings together scholars across multiple subfields within sociology, such as
urban sociology, rural sociology, life course, family, and demography. We
examine provocative questions about how and why places and their populations
change over time, and why some places and populations are more advantaged than
others. For example, how is rural America being reshaped by politics, amenity
migration, farming labor practices, and the enduring opioid crisis? Why do
poverty, housing discrimination, and low-wage jobs persist in urban areas? Why
is life expectancy lower in Mississippi than Minnesota? Faculty in this area
use a wide range of research methods and data, from quantitative analyses of
large national datasets to rich ethnographic analyses of local communities.
Many faculty in this area regularly communicate
with policymakers, the media, and local organizations to make positive change.
Population (Montez, Landes, London, Monnat, Schewe, Silverstein, Wilmoth)
Faculty in
this area develop and extend knowledge of population processes such as
population health and mortality, fertility, (im)migration, family formation,
and age structure, that contribute to changes in the U.S. and the world at
large. Recent emphases include: racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in
health outcomes; veteran mortality, behavioral health, and well-being; health
and mortality trends for persons with disability; geographic differences in
opioid and other drug mortality; the role of state policies on health and
mortality; religiosity and mortality risk in later life; family processes among
same-sex couples; longitudinal study of generations; aging and families in
China; and relationships between childhood adversity and adult health outcomes.
Urban Sociology (Kurien, Monnat, Paris, Purser)
In this area, we apply sociological
theories, methods, and insights to the study of human interaction, social
structures, processes, and change in metropolitan areas. Recent emphases
include: urban policy; the low-wage labor market and lived experience of
poverty in the urban U.S.; the housing market and tenant evictions; immigrant
community formation and mobilization; gender inequalities in middle-eastern
cities; residential segregation; and HIV prevention among black men. These topics
are explored at different geographic scales, from the neighborhood to the
metropolis and beyond.
Rural Sociology (Montez, Monnat, Schewe)
Scholars in this area explore
sociological and interdisciplinary approaches to emerging and enduring social,
economic, and demographic issues affecting rural people and places. Recent
projects include: opioid mortality trends in rural America; factors associated
with rural voting patterns in the 2016 Presidential election; Hispanic health
outcomes in new vs. established immigrant destinations; farm labor
arrangements; antibiotic use on US dairy farms; amenity migration; and
agricultural climate change mitigation.