COSSA Member Spotlight
PAA to Host Virtual Briefing on Trends Affecting Rural Communities
The Population Association of America (PAA), a COSSA governing member, is hosting a Congressional briefing entitled “Small Towns/Big Trends: Demographic Insights on Living, Working, and Thriving,” that will feature an expert panel presenting research regarding demographic, economic, health, and environmental challenges and opportunities facing U.S. rural communities. The virtual briefing will take place on March 18, at 12:00 pm ET. Participants can register for the briefing here.
PAA Holds Congressional Briefing on the Demographic Implications of Climate Change
On December 6, the Population Association of America (PAA), a Governing Member of COSSA, organized a virtual Congressional briefing titled “Braving the Storm: How Climate Change Will Affect How and Where We Live.” The briefing, which was moderated by Chair of the PAA Government and Public Affairs Committee Vida Maralani, featured presentations on research reflecting the impact of climate change on international and domestic demographic changes. The first presentation, by Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue of Cornell University, highlighted several demographic implications for climate change and its impact on the Sahel region on the African continent. The second presentation, by Sarah Curran of…
SSRC Launches Global Consortium on Misinformation and Health Research
The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) has launched a new initiative, the Mercury Project, a global research consortium focused on combatting mis- and disinformation in public health and finding interventions that support the spread and uptake of accurate health information. The $10 million initiative will provide three-year research grants “to discover new, evidence-based, data-driven tools, methods, and interventions to counter mis- and disinformation and to support the spread and uptake of accurate health information.” More information about the project is available on the SSRC website. Proposals are being accepted on a rolling basis.
University of Chicago Conference to Highlight Social Science Partnerships for Policymaking
The University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy will be hosting a hybrid virtual/in-person conference, “Creating Social Change Through Public-Private Partnerships.” The event will explore how a “new, more action-oriented social science can help solve social problems by partnering with government agencies, NGOs and private-sector firms.” The agenda will feature expert practitioners from Los Angeles, Baltimore, Washington DC, and Chicago who will speak to the ways they engaged research insights to advance policy changes related to housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and the environment. More details are available on the event’s website. The event is open to the…
ASA Task Force Releases Report on Quality of 2020 Census State Totals
The Task Force on 2020 Census Quality Indicators convened by the American Statistical Association (ASA), a COSSA governing member, released its final report on September 14. That task force, chaired by former U.S. Chief Statistician Nancy Potok, was formed in September 2020 to assess the quality of data from the 2020 Census, given the challenges of conducting the census during the pandemic and concerns about political interference from the Trump Administration. The task force evaluated a set of 10 state-level “process statistics” relevant for evaluating the quality of census state-level totals used for apportionment and concluded that it found “no…
AERA to Host Annual Brown Lecture on Intersectionality and Education Equity
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, will host its annual Brown Lecture in Education Research virtually on October 21 at 6:00 pm ET. The 2021 lecture is entitled “Still Climbing the Hill: Intersectional Reflections on Brown and Beyond” and will be delivered by Lori Patton Davis, professor of higher education and student affairs at Ohio State University, and an influential scholar on critical race theory and African Americans in higher education. The Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research commemorates the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and is designed to…
AAPOR Releases Report Evaluating 2020 Election Polling
The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) has released a report analyzing the pre-election polls from the 2020 elections titled “Task Force on 2020 Pre-Election Polling: An Evaluation of the 2020 General Election Polls.” The task force consisted of 19 members chosen to ensure diversity of backgrounds and opinions from various organizations, media outlets, and academic institutions. One of the main points covered in the report relates to polling errors that may have stemmed from issues of noncoverage, nonresponse, or statistical adjustments. The report notes that small errors can add up and have large effects on the predictions of…
AAPSS Hosting Event on Cutting Child Poverty
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) and Spotlight on Poverty & Opportunity will host a virtual discussion titled “Opportunities to Cut Child Poverty: Understanding the Data and Evidence” on Thursday, June 24 at 2:00 pm ET. The webinar will focus on what is already known about child poverty and how we know it, racial disparities in poverty levels, and what policies and investments can bring us closer to the goal of ending this problem. The speakers will also address current federal policy and proposed legislation, and the potential impact on child poverty in the U.S. More information…
Kathleen Cagney, University of Chicago Sociologist, to Head Michigan’s ISR
Kathleen A. Cagney, professor of sociology and director of the University of Chicago’s Population Research Center, has been named the next director of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR). Cagney will also hold research professorships in ISR’s Survey Research Center and Population Studies Center. Her research examines social inequality and its relationship to health with a focus on neighborhood, race, and aging and the life course. Cagney will succeed David Lam, who has directed the Institute since 2015, and will return to the faculty. She will assume her new position on September 1.
NYU Professor Anna Harvey Named Next SSRC President
The Social Science Research Council (SSRC), a COSSA member, has named Anna Harvey, a leading scholar of government, law, and inequality, and professor of politics at New York University, as its 15th president and CEO. Dr. Harvey succeeds Alondra Nelson, who has since taken a key role in the Biden Administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Dr. Harvey, a political scientist by training is a founding director of NYU’s Public Safety Lab and also holds appointments as professor of law and of data science. She assumes her new role on July 1.
AAPSS to Host Virtual Moynihan Prize Event with William Nordhaus
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) and SAGE Publishing will co-host a Moynihan Prize event on May 13 at 3:00pm ET titled “A Turning Point for International Climate Policy? New Approaches to Environmental and Economic Cooperation.” The event will include a webinar and panel discussion focused on international economic and regulatory approaches to environmental policy Nobel laureate and Moynihan Prize recipient William Nordhaus. The event will take place at 3. More details and information on registration is available here.
Marta Tienda Named AAPSS President
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS), a COSSA member, has announced the selection of Dr. Marta Tienda as its next president. She succeeds Dr. Ken Prewitt, who led the organization since 2015. Dr. Tienda is the Maurice P. During Professor in Demographic Studies and Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, with joint affiliations in the university’s Office of Population Research and The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Her research interests include immigration, population diversification, and concentrated poverty, documenting how social arrangements and life course trajectories both perpetuate and reshape socioeconomic inequality.
PAA to Host Briefing on Demographic Insights into COVID-19
The Population Association of America will host a virtual congressional briefing, “Living, Working, Dying: Demographic Insights into COVID-19” on Friday, April 23, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET. The event will feature presentations by prominent population scientists who will present findings on the disparate impacts of COVID, especially as they relate to mortality, education, food insecurity, and family dynamics, and what additional research and data are needed to understand and address its far-reaching effects. The briefing will feature Dr. Noreen Goldman of Princeton University. Dr. Caitlyn Collins of Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Marc Garcia of the University of Nebraska,…
Saima Hedrick Named New SRCD Director
The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), a COSSA governing member, has announced the selection of Saima K. Hedrick as its next executive director effective April 5. Hedrick comes to SRCD from the Society for the Study of Reproduction, where she has served as executive director for over three years. She will succeed Martha Zaslow, who has been acting as interim executive director.
AERA and Spencer Foundation Release Report on COVID-19 Impacts on Doctoral Students and Early Career Scholars
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, and the Spencer Foundation have released a report, Voices from the Field: The Impact of COVID-19 on Early Career Scholars and Doctoral Students, as part of an ongoing effort to assess and address pressing needs facing scholars and doctoral students during the pandemic. The report’s findings are drawn from a series of focus groups conducted in spring 2020 and are organized into seven themes: (1) Research Impact: Disruptions, Delays, and Adaptations; (2) Impact on Teaching: The Need to Be Inventive, Inclusive, and Intentional; (3) Balancing Acts: Negotiating Family, Home, Community,…
APA Announces Mitchell Prinstein as Next Chief Science Officer
The American Psychological Association (APA), a COSSA governing member, has announced the selection of Mitchell Prinstein as its new Chief Science Officer. Prinstein, who is slated to transition into the role starting March 1, is the John Van Seters distinguished professor of psychology and neuroscience and assistant dean of Honors Carolina at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, another COSSA member. More information is available in the full press release on the APA website.
American Statistical Association Launches New Monthly Podcast
On January 6, 2021, the American Statistical Association (ASA) announced the debut episode of a new monthly podcast, Practical Significance. The podcast, hosted by Ron Wasserstein, ASA’s Executive Director, and Donna LaLonde, ASA’s Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach, will highlight compelling stories from data science and statistics from within ASA’s membership and promote careers in these disciplines. The debut episode features Rob Santos, ASA’s President, discussing his previous work at the Urban Institute, and outlining his goals for his tenure leading the association. The podcast can be listened to on the ASA website. The podcast has also been submitted…
AAPSS to Hold Webinar on the Impact of Inequality on Democracy
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS), a COSSA member, will host a virtual conversation “Can Democracy Survive Growing Inequality?” on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 1:00 pm Eastern time. New York Times columnist David Leonhardt will moderate a conversation with the 2020 AAPSS Fellows: Katherine Cramer, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Eric Foner, Columbia University; Helen Milner, Princeton University; Mario Luis Small, Harvard University and Bruce Western, Columbia University. The discussion will take stock of the current state of racial and socioeconomic inequality in the United States and around the world and suggest public policy opportunities for the…
AERA and National Academies to Host Forum on Educational Equity Research Needs
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) are partnering on a forum on the research needs and implications of the 2019 Academies’ report Monitoring Educational Equity. The forum will feature experts who served on the National Academies panel that produced the report and explore a select set of the 16 indicators proposed in the report, including exposure to racial, ethnic, and economic segregation; non-exclusionary disciplinary policies; access to non-academic support for students; and access to high-quality academic supports. The forum will take place on December 15, 2020…