About
CDE & CDHA’s weekly Demography Seminar (DemSem) offers presentations of substantive work at the forefront of population sciences by top scholars from across the university campus and beyond. The Demography Seminar is open to all and meets on Tuesdays during the academic year from 12:15-1:30 p.m. DemSem will meet in 8417 Social Science (see exceptions below). Subscribe to our DemSem Google calendar here.
Spring 2026 Schedule
January 27th, 2026
Sameer Deshpande (UW-Madison Statistics Dept), “Estimating heterogeneous causal effects with varying coefficient models and Bayesian Additive Regression Trees.”
February 3rd, 2026
Jessica Faul (University of Michigan), “What We Learn by Adding Biological Measurement to an Interdisciplinary, Longitudinal, Social Science Survey: DNA Methylation Research in the Health and Retirement Study.” Co-sponsored by the Department of Population Health Sciences.
February 10th, 2026
Research Working Groups (all groups will meet in Sewell Social Science during standard DemSem time)
- Family Demography (rm. 8146)
- Economic Demography (rm. 4405)
- Spatial Demography (rm. 3470)
- Reproductive Health (rm. 7130)
- Health & Biodemography (rm. 8417)
February 17th, 2026
Keisha Solomon (Howard University), “Insurance Expansion and SSI Participation.”
February 26th*, 2026
Hannes Schwandt (Northwestern University), “Widening class gaps and narrowing race gaps in US mortality.”
*Thursday (Co-sponsored with IRP)
March 5th*, 2026
Diana Hernandez (Columbia University), “Energy Insecurity: The People’s Struggle for Power at Home.”
*Thursday (Co-sponsored with the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Office of Sustainability)
**Location: 1163 Mechanical Engineering Building from 4:15 -5:15pm.
March 10th, 2026
Webinar: “Infectious Disease Demography”
Moderated by Malia Jones (UW-Madison), Speakers: Ayesha Mahmud (UC Berkeley), Audrey Dorélien (University of Washington), Susie Cassels (UC Santa Barbra), Andrew Stokes (Boston University)
March 17th, 2026
Irma Elo (University of Pennsylvania)
March 24th, 2026
Sabino Kornrich (NYU Abu Dhabi), “Norms and Contradictions of Intensive Parenting.”
March 31st, 2026 – Spring Break
April 8th*, 2026
Christina Cross (Harvard University), “Why Opportunity Gaps Persist between Black and White Youth Raised in Two-Parent Families.”
*Wednesday from 12:15-1:45 p.m. (Co-sponsored with Sociology)
April 14th, 2026
Research Working Groups (all groups will meet in Sewell Social Science during standard DemSem time)
- Family Demography (rm. 8146)
- Economic Demography (rm. 4405)
- Spatial Demography (rm. 3470)
- Reproductive Health (rm. 7130)
- Health & Biodemography (rm. 8417)
April 21st, 2026
Nafeesa Andrabi (University of Michigan)
May 1*, 2026
Spring Research Symposium
*Friday
Fall 2025 Schedule
September 2nd, 2025
*3-4:15pm in 8411 Sewell Social Sciences (required only for CDE/CDHA graduate students who have not attended previously, but all welcome), with a Semester Kick-Off Social to follow at the Memorial Union Terrace at 4:30pm
September 9th, 2025
New Faces Flash Research Talks including Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle, Michael Culbertson, Martin Eiermann, Dan Grupe, Tianyuan Lu, Peter Rich
Lunch will be served at 12pm in 8411
September 16th, 2025
Research Working Groups (all groups will meet in Sewell Social Sciences during standard DemSem time)
- Family Demography (rm. 8417)
- Economic Demography (rm. 7130)
- Spatial Demography (rm. 3470)
- Reproductive Health (rm. 8146)
- Health & Biodemography (rm. 4405)
September 23rd, 2025
Rob Warren (University of Minnesota), “Childhood Fluoride Exposure and Cognition Across the Life Course”
(Co-sponsored with UW-Madison Department of Sociology)
September 30th, 2025
Kai Feng (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research) RISE-THRIVE job talk
October 8th*, 2025
Lucie Kalousova (Vanderbilt University) RISE-THRIVE job talk
*Wednesday, Oct 8th, 12:15-1:30pm in 8417 Social Science
October 14th, 2025
Research Working Groups (all groups will meet in Sewell Social Sciences during standard DemSem time)
- Family Demography (rm. 8146)
- Economic Demography (rm. 4405)
- Spatial Demography (rm. 3470)
- Reproductive Health (rm. 7130)
- Health & Biodemography (rm. 8417)
October 23rd*, 2025
Silvia Elena Giorguli Saucedo (El Colegio de México) “Familias on the Move: The Complex Scenario of International Migration in Latin America”
*Thursday, Oct 23rd, 12:30-2:00pm in 354 Agricultural Hall (Co-sponsored with FemSem)
October 28th, 2025
Rita Hu (The University of Chicago) “Social Pathways Linking Internalized Ageism to Health” (Co-sponsored with Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work)
November 6th*, 2025
Diana Hernandez (Columbia), “Energy Insecurity: The People’s Struggle for Power at Home”
*Thursday (Co-sponsored with the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Office of Sustainability) Mechanical Engineering Building Room 1163, 4:15 pm – 5:15 pm
November 11th, 2025
Sigal Alon (Tel Aviv University) “What Do Workers Want? A Dynamic Perspective on Work Orientation Through the Lens of the COVID-19 Disruption”
November 18th, 2025
Research Working Groups (all groups will meet in Sewell Social Sciences during standard DemSem time)
- Family Demography (rm. 8146)
- Economic Demography (rm. 4405)
- Spatial Demography (rm. 3470)
- Reproductive Health (rm. 7130)
- Health & Biodemography (rm. 8417)
November 26th, 2025
No DemSem
December 4th*, 2025
Trevon D. Logan (Ohio State University), “Workplace Stratification and Racial Health Disparities”
*Thursday, Dec 4th, 12:15-1:30pm in 8417 Social Science (Co-sponsored by UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty)
December 9th, 2025
Mariétou Ouayogodé (UW-Madison), “Employment security and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Wisconsin”
Lunch will be served at 12pm in 8411