Training Opportunities in Demography at Harvard

Harvard University’s schools and departments offer several courses with training in demography. Below, we list several of the most the relevant courses, noting any conditions students would need to meet to enroll. More information, including course descriptions, can be found in the course catalogs, available by course number search at my.harvard.edu.

Introduction to Demographic Methods (GHP 220) with Marcia Castro: Priority enrollment for GHP-SM2 and doctoral students in GHP. Any remaining seats will be available on a first-come first-serve basis. Students outside of Harvard Chan School must request instructor permission to enroll in this course.

Introduction to Spatial Methods for Public Health (GHP 534) with Marcia Castro: Students who wish to enroll must email an essay (maximum half-page) to the course instructor (mcastro@hsph.harvard.edu) or submit directly within my.Harvard. Students outside of HSPH must request instructor permission to enroll in this course.

Foundations of Global Health and Population (GHP 272) with David Bloom and Joel Lamstein: Course is Restricted to SM2 research students in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard Chan School. Any remaining seats will be made available to other students pending instructor permission.

Multilevel Statistical Methods: Concept & Application (SBS 263) with S V Subramanian: This class has priority enrollment, top priority given to PhD PHS SBS.

From the Bottom to the Top: Unequal Opportunities and Unequal Outcomes Across Generations (SUP 208/SOCIOL 2288) with Deirdre Bloom

Inequality at Work: Contemporary Problems and Policy Solutions (SUP 325/SOCIOL 2285) with Danny Schneider

Advanced Quantitative Methods (SOCIOL 2203) with Xiang Zhou: Recommends Sociology 2202 or basic course in regression analysis
This course is for PhD students in the Sociology department. Petitions from undergraduate students and PhD students in other departments will only be approved at the discretion of the instructor if space is available.

Beyond Correlation: The Science of Cause and Effect in Society (SOCIOL 1356) with Xiang Zhou: For undergraduate and graduate Students.

An Intro to History, Politics, & Public Health: Theories of Disease Distr. & Health Inequities (SBS 506) with Nancy Krieger: This class has priority enrollment (see my.harvard for more details) and is designed for both master level and doctoral level students. SBS 506 enrollment will end on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 4:00pm (i.e., first Tuesday after the first Friday session of the course). After that time students will not be able to perform any enrollment transactions (including adding, dropping, or changing enrollment).

Adv Sem on History, Politics, and Public Health: Theories of Disease Distr and Health Inequities (SBS 507) with Nancy Krieger: SBS506 or PHS 2506 required.

American Society and Public Policy (GenEd 1092) with Mary Waters and Theda Skocpol: Course enrollment requires participating in the GenEd lottery.

Sociology of Immigration (SOCIOL 2175) with Mary Waters

US Social Safety Net Policies and Health (SBS 206) with Rita Hamad

Social Demography Workshop (SOCIOL 3323) with Lisa Berkman, Christina Cross, Elyse Jennings, Joscha Legewie, Daniel Schneider, and Xiang Zhou. Features presentations by PhD students and invited guest speakers. Enrollment for course credit is by instructor permission.