Teaching
Graduate methods for population science
Teaching philosophy
My teaching centers on advanced quantitative and spatial methods for population science. I aim to give students up-to-date instruction on the methods currently used by professionals across the diverse field of demography, and to provide an arena where they can gain hands-on experience applying those methods to practical, realistic problems. Coursework emphasizes the R programming language, modern data visualization, and reproducible workflows, so that students leave not only understanding a method but able to implement it on real data.
I believe demographic training is strongest when technical rigor is paired with substantive interpretation. Students learn to move from a research question to an appropriate model, to fit and check that model in code, and to communicate results clearly. Where possible I use realistic data and problems so that methods are learned in the context in which they will actually be used.
Courses
I have designed and taught graduate courses spanning introductory statistics, linear and hierarchical models, event history and hazard analysis, multivariate statistics, geographic information systems, and spatial statistics. Representative courses include:
- DEM 7223 Advanced Methods for Life Table Analysis
- DEM 7903 Introduction to Social Demography
- DEM 7903 Multivariate Statistical Analysis
- DEM 7273 Statistical Methods for Demographic Data I
- DEM 7283 Statistical Methods for Demographic Data II
- DEM 7263 Spatial Demography
- DEM 7093 GIS for Population Science
Course materials and code
Many of my course examples, worked analyses, and R tutorials are freely available:
Advising
I welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students interested in demography, population health, spatial analysis, and applied statistics. Students with quantitative interests and a substantive question about population and health are encouraged to reach out by email.