Monica Alexander

Look what we're up to @uoftsociology.bsky.social!

We are building a new pop center at UofT and will hold our first mini-conference on Nov 6 - come join us!!

Exhibit 1: amazing speaker line-up - featuring friends around the world to discuss why demography/pop center matters! 🤓

Exhibit 2: the iconic castle where this conference will take place 🏰 ✨

The Toronto Population Network is holding a conference on 6 November at Hart House at UofT. Keynote from @ridhikashyap.bsky.social! If you're in Toronto come along and help us build the community of demographers and population researchers here! Registration: www.eventbrite.com/e/toronto-po...

Contemporary Pronatalism in Demographic Context Participating journal: Population Research and Policy Review Call for Papers Low and declining birth rates across the world have consequences for countries’ population size and structure. Concerns over the potential economic effects of population aging have spurred many countries to engage in efforts to raise birth rates. At the same time, there is growing concern about the social and cultural causes and consequences of low birth rates. Pronatalism – an ideology based on the belief that birth rates are too low, and societies should work to raise them in the interest of economic productivity and cultural preservation – has re-emerged as an increasingly visible and powerful force across different settings. The dynamics of low fertility – such as fertility decline, postponement, and changing patterns of family formation – have been common topics in population science over the last 25 years, but pronatalism has received considerably less attention from the field. This Special Issue will provide an opportunity for population scientists to contribute to the conversations about pronatalism throughout the world. We welcome critical, theoretical, descriptive, and empirical submissions that explicitly focus on some aspect of pronatalism. Further research is needed on the evidentiary base upon which pronatalism rests; the social, political, and cultural inspirations and implications of pronatalism; and the support for, and effects of, pronatalist policies. Evaluation of alternative approaches (besides raising birth rates) for addressing changes in population size and composition is also warranted. Submissions that discuss the causes and consequences of low fertility but do not directly engage with pronatalism fall outside of the scope of this issue.

Very excited to announce that @srhayford.bsky.social, @lesja.bsky.social, and I will be guest-editing a special volume of @prpr-journal.bsky.social on "Contemporary Pronatalism in Demographic Context"! Submissions due March 1, 2026. link.springer.com/collections/...

🚨New Tenure Position!
We're looking for a new colleague to join our dynamic team in Belgium.

Innovative quantitative methods | Health & environment | Population dynamics

Read job description here: jobs.uclouvain.be/PersonnelAca...
Application Deadline: Nov 11, 2025
#job #tenure

We are hiring!

We are inviting applications for the Chapman Fellowship in Statistics at Imperial College London.

This is a kind of super-postdoc: 3 years contract, excellent working conditions, and candidates are expected to propose an independent research plan.

www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs//search...

This is me on a regular basis. What are you trying to tell me Leslie

Image of smiling young people in professional dress having a conversation in what looks like a lecture hall. Text says "UofT grad students - want to help increase media presence for social policy? Pitch an opinion piece related to social policy. If approved, you'll get $500 for the completed piece." The logos of CGSP and UofT's Sociology Department are at the top of the image.

UofT grad students - help advance social policy's media presence! Pitch us an opinion piece on social policy. If approved, you'll earn $500 for the completed piece.

More info: cgsp-cpsm.ca/2025/09/22/c...

I'm super excited to announce that ISBA @isba-bayesian.bsky.social has voted to start a new section on Bayesian Social Sciences! It will be a great way to further collaborations with many disciplines in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

bss-isba.github.io

The new Bayesian Social Sciences section of @isba-bayesian.bsky.social has just been created: bss-isba.github.io. The committee is myself as chair, @robinryder.bsky.social, chair elect from 2027, @nialfriel.bsky.social, program chair, @monjalexander.bsky.social, Treasurer, EJWagenmakers, Secretary.

The data is now available for all teams who've already signed up! More sign-ups very welcome! Happy analysing! 💻📊

A really great presentation from @phbocquier.bsky.social yesterday! The recording is up for those interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C_R...

Come and check out our next Formal Demography Working Group meeting with @phbocquier.bsky.social ! Sign up on our website to receive the link. If you have an ideia/paper/ work in progress you would like to present please feel free to reach out to us!
formaldemography.github.io/working_group/

The next Formal Demography Working Group is Thursday September 11 at 10am ET! @phbocquier.bsky.social will present on identifying small-area diffusion of mortality transitions using non-linear modelling. Sign up details on our website! formaldemography.github.io/working_group/

Health demographers 📣
Calling for submissions to our w. @timriffe1.bsky.social
Healthy Life Expectancy methodology collection on @genus.bsky.social! We're seeking innovative approaches to statistical modelling and empirical analysis of health inequalities 📈
📆 Submission deadline: 01/06/26
🔗 Link 👇

🚨Open Positions!🚨
Postdoc/Research Scientist Positions
Migration | Population Dynamics | Computational Demography
Application Deadline: Oct 10, 2025
See job description here:
www.demogr.mpg.de/en/career_61...
#Postdoc #Jobs
@ezagheni.bsky.social @perrottadaniela.bsky.social @ugobas.bsky.social

One Epidemic, Many Estimates (1EME) One Epidemic, Many Estimates (1EME)

📢 Interested in excess mortality methods, and want a challenge? I'm organising the "One Epidemic, Many Estimates" (1EME) project! Register *now* as a many analyst team (submissions due 15 March 2026), and then join us at LSE for a workshop on 21-22 May 2026! (1/n)

www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-His...

We're hiring: Postdoctoral Researcher in Demography, deadline: 30 September 2025

🚨 New Job Alert! 🚨

Join Dr @ewabatyra.bsky.social as a Postdoc Researcher in Demography!

Contribute to a global study on disparities in reproductive behaviour, focusing on childbearing age & fertility levels 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

Apply now 👉 www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/event/postdo...

Job alert! Join us at @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social as a postdoctoral fellow to work on your own research for three years. #sociology

Niche

GPT-5 regularly asks you why you are not citing its work. GPT-5 always believes your estimator is biased. GPT-5 has more of a comment than a question. Sometimes GPT-5 tells you stories about grad school and expresses regret about getting a PhD. GPT-5's mom wonders when it will start making money.

Average mortality rates are a horrible measure of typical mortality during the first weeks of life. On the day of birth modal mortality is 189 times lower than average mortality. Read more in my recent piece on selection in neonatal mortality.

Faculty (UWOFA) Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.

Political Science at Western University, Canada is searching for three tenure track assistant professors. There are two ads, one in International Politics (IR or comparative) and one in Comparative or Canadian. Ads are here: www.uwo.ca/facultyrelat...

The wonderful Niamh Cahill is recruiting a PhD student (co-supervised by me!) to work on estimating and projecting population exposure to extreme sea levels. Please contact me if interested!

A picture of the toronto skyline

🚨 Job alert: The Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto is hiring an Assistant Professor in the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity.
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...

I'll be at ASA and would be happy to chat with interested candidates. Please share widely! #Socsky

There are also a few really good demographic methods instructors who have all or nearly all their materials - including slides and readings - online, including:
grodri.github.io
and
www.ernestoamaral.com/soci633-25sp...
and
github.com/MJAlexander/...
(last one is @monjalexander.bsky.social )

🧮 A new preprint of my first dissertation chapter "From disparate lists to population estimates: A multiple systems estimation workflow for mortality analysis in conflict settings” is now online.

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

YouTube video by Formal Demography Formal demography working group meeting 11

Just posted the recording of @hggaddy.bsky.social's talk on Challenges in Estimating Crisis Mortality, you can check it out here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCNI...

ACOG Leads Amicus Brief Calling Mifepristone Conclusively Safe and Effective The amicus brief outlines the overwhelming evidence demonstrating that mifepristone—which has undergone rigorous testing and review and has been safely used in the United States for 23 years—is conclu...

Mifepristone is one of the most studied, safest medications in use today — over 20 years, 100+ studies, millions of patients.

Attacks on mifepristone aren’t science — they’re ideology.

Let doctors and patients lead, not politics.

Reach out if you would like to present your work and discuss with other folks that are into formal demography 🤓👇 you can just fill out this form: 🔗 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

formaldemography.github.io/working_grou...