UTSA Demography Lecture Series Presents D’Vera Cohn Dec. 6

D'Vera Cohn (Image courtesy of Pew Research Center)

By Jesus Chavez
Public Affairs Specialist I

(Dec. 2, 2013) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Department of Demography Demography Lecture Series will feature D'Vera Cohn, a senior writer for the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends Project, at 11 a.m. to noon on Friday, Dec. 6 in the Buena Vista Building (BV 3.324) at the UTSA Downtown Campus. Cohn's lecture, "Social Science and the Media: Getting the Word Out," is free and open to the public.

Cohn studies and writes about demographics, social trends and immigration in the U.S. for the center's Social and Demographic Trends Project. She has authored studies on the marriage and birth rates in the U.S., migration between the U.S. and Mexico, and U.S. population projections. She also edits and provides material for the center's "All Things Census" blog.

In her lecture, Cohn will examine how social science researchers can best leverage the media to help disseminate their findings and how reporters can make use of demographic data provided to them in their stories.

"It is important that researchers are able to convey important findings to as many audiences as possible," said Joachim Singelmann, chair of the Department of Demography. "D'Vera Cohn has decades of experience translating complex demographic concepts for public consumption. Her lecture should be a fascinating learning experience for people interested in understanding how the media and researchers can work hand-in-hand to better inform the public."

Cohn is a former reporter for the Washington Post, where she worked for 21 years covering the census, immigration and demographic trends. Prior to joining the Pew Research Center, she served as a consultant and freelance writer for the Brookings Institution and Population Reference Bureau. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College.

She has spoken on the topic of social science and the media at conferences around the world, including the Consortium of Social Science Associations, the Population Association of America and the American Sociological Association.

The Demography Lecture Series brings academics and practitioners of the social sciences to speak about topics including human population, social trends and innovations in the field.

The UTSA Department of Demography, housed in the College of Public Policy, provides training to increase students' understanding of the size, distribution, composition and growth of human populations.

For more information about the lecture, visit http://copp.utsa.edu/demography/home or contact the UTSA Department of Demography at 210-458-3163.

Connect with UTSA online at www.utsa.edu, www.facebook.com/utsa, www.twitter.com/utsa or www.youtube.com/utsa.