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Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Robert Hummer
Dr. Robert Hummer is the current Chair of the Department of Sociology. As a social demographer, his research centers on health and mortality disparities across population groups in the United States, focusing on links between migration and health, socioeconomic status and health, and religion and health. In addition to teaching, conducting research, and serving as Chair of the Department of Sociology, Dr. Hummer co-directs the Population Research Center’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Summer Program in Minority Group Demography. This ten-week summer program exposes undergraduates to both the technical tools and the professional culture of social science through the course of scientific inquiry in social demography, offers a rigorous course of study that highlights the intensity of the scientific research process, and allows for students to demonstrate their expertise as junior members of the academy. What is the REU?Each year the Population Research Center (PRC) at the University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, hosts the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in Minority Group Social Demography. This ten-week summer program, which is primarily funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, offers ten carefully selected upper-division undergraduate students from both UT Austin and around the country the opportunity to study social demography through course work and a mentored research experience with senior PRC graduate students. The program pays for tuition, room and board, computer expenses, and books. Students also receive a stipend for participation in the program, which allows the selected students to fully concentrate on their REU experience over the 2-month program. Student Activities in the REUCourseworkStudents register for a 5-week 3-hour summer course (SOC 369L: Analytical Demography) during the first half of the summer. The course focuses on research dealing with minority group experiences in the United States and teaches students how to conduct social demographic research on such topics as racial/ethnic inequality, health disparities, fertility differentials, etc. using demographic research tools. Students are also taught hands-on software training throughout this course. Individual Research ProjectsIn addition to the 5-week course, REU students are introduced to statistical computing and research ethics at the UT Population Research Center (PRC). The PRC is the foremost research institute for population studies in the Southwestern United States. During the second part of the summer, REU students develop a research project and produce a scholarly paper. The summer research work of students is mentored by advanced graduate students who are conducting population-based research at the Population Research Center, as well as by the faculty co-directors (Drs. Robert Hummer and Arthur Sakamoto) of this program. Professional Meeting PresentationFinally, student papers are presented at the fall meeting of the Southern Demographic Association (SDA). Students selected for the REU program are provided with a travel allowance to send them from their home university to the SDA meeting in order to present their research. Who is eligible to be an REU student?This program is open to US citizens and permanent residents. Undergraduates who have completed requirements for sophomore or junior standing are eligible to apply, with the ideal time for REU being the summer between the junior and senior year. Preference is also given to applications from students with some statistical/methodological training, those who declare sociology as a major, and/or those who are participating in a social science honors program at their home institution. Students who have excellent grades, a serious interest in thinking about graduate school in the social sciences, and a thematic interest in minority group well-being and demography are especially encouraged to apply. A letter of reference from a nominating faculty member is given serious weight in the selection decisions. Comments from Former REU Participants:“My experience in the REU program at the University of Texas at Austin cemented my decision to major in sociology and pursue a career as a professor of sociology. Participating in the program gave me the invaluable advantage of early exposure to what my decisions would mean for the kind of work I would perform. At the time I decided to major in sociology, my decision was based solely on my undergraduate coursework, which had not yet given me experience with the research process. The REU program gave me a preview into my future as a graduate student and professor by exposing me to graduate-level work (and expectations for performance!) and the multitude of tasks involved with conceptualizing research projects, conducting research, writing professional-level research papers and disseminating the results at professional conferences. There is no substitute for experience with these tasks, and that is what REU provides. I acquired tremendous confidence that I could and would successfully complete a graduate program in sociology. This I owe to REU and the wonderful professors and student colleagues I worked with in Austin.” -Pamela Bennett, PhD Sociology: University of Michigan, 2002;
now on the faculty in the Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University “My path to work as a sociologist and a demographer was due almost entirely to my experience the REU. I began my undergraduate career as a psychology major, and unclear of what I wanted to do with my degree. After my experience with the REU program, I had both a focused idea of the type of graduate study I wanted to pursue, experience and insight into both life as a graduate student and as a researcher, and the credential that participation in the program affords. Without this experience, it’s highly doubtful that I would have been able to pursue graduate study in sociology or demography.” -Jenifer Bratter, PhD Sociology: University of Texas at Austin, 2002;
now on the faculty in the Department of Sociology at Rice University “The REU experience had a tremendous influence on my career path; I doubt I would have pursued demography at the graduate level without the REU introduction to research and techniques. The program was especially well-suited to seeing beyond the mortality, and migration topics and providing insight into the application of demographic tools to ‘less traditional’ substantive areas of inquiry. And importantly, it exposed me development issues that set me ahead of my peers upon entering graduate school.” -Meredith Kleykamp, PhD Sociology: Princeton University, 2007;
now on the faculty in the Department of Sociology at the University of Kansas Links |
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last updated; Sep 25 2009 Copyright | Privacy | Accessibility Information |
Chair, Department of Sociology