Toronto Population Network hosts successful first mini-conference
On November 6, the Toronto Population Network (TPN) held its first mini-conference at Hart House. The conference had more than 80 attendees from a wide range of departments: sociology, geography, public health, social work, engineering, anthropology, urban studies, information, economics, and statistics. Researchers from all three U of T campuses participated, and included a mix of faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students.
Sessions throughout the day discussed the strengths of population centres, the landscape of demographic data in Canada and beyond, and showcased current population research happening at U of T. Invited speakers and panelists included world-leading population researchers from the US, UK, and Canada.
The keynote speaker was Ridhi Kashyap, Professor of Demography & Computational Social Science at the University of Oxford, and a founding member of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science (LCDS) at Oxford. Professor Kashyap’s keynote described how the LCDS was integral to advancing and mobilizing impactful research, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in creating computational infrastructure and resources to better understand digital gender inequalities in a global context.
After the keynote, UofT faculty members from sociology, geography, social work, and the School of Cities gave ‘flash talks’ on their research, which spanned topics as wide ranging as mental health, economic sociology, healthy aging, and air pollution exposure in the GTA.
Invited guests from established population centres across Canada, the US, and the UK (Shelley Clark (McGill); Katherine Curtis (UW-Madison); Ridhi Kashyap (Oxford) and Emilio Parrado (University of Pennsylvania)) then participated in a panel discussion about how population research centres can advance scholarship. Panel members stressed sharing resources, encouraging and training students, public engagement, and building a strong community as key features of population centres. Finally, a panel of experts on demographic data in Canada and internationally (Elizabeth Dhuey (Research Data Centre, UofT); Sarah Flood (Minnesota Population Centre); and Rachel Margolis (University of Western Ontario)) discussed the strength of using population data, access, new and interesting datasets, and future opportunities.
The TPN mini-conference was a huge success in launching this initiative and beginning to establish a strong network and community of population researchers at UofT. We are excited to build on this momentum moving into next year, with a seminar series and other events and resources planned for next semester.