Michael White
Professor:
Sociology
Phone: +1 401 863 1083
Michael_White@Brown.EDU
Most of my research investigates issues that stand at the intersection of sociology and public policy. I wear the hat of a demographer, so I naturally lean toward population studies and the use of censuses and surveys. I am presently involved in a wide range of research projects in a variety of geographic settings. Current research on the United States includes studies of immigrant adaptation in schooling, family and the labor force. I am also working on new methods for analyzing residential segregation that can reflect the increasing ethnic diversity of contemporary America's urban areas. In developing societies I study the determinants of migration, urbanization, and their demographic and environmental consequences.
Interests
Areas of Interest:
Demography, immigration, social policy, Africa.
I arrived at Brown University in 1989. Most of my research investigates issues that stand at the intersection of sociology and public policy. I wear the hat of a demographer, so I naturally lean toward population studies and the use of censuses and surveys. I am presently involved in a wide range of research projects in a variety of geographic settings. Current research on the United States includes studies of immigrant adaptation in schooling, family and the labor force. I am also working on new methods for analyzing residential segregation that can reflect the increasing ethnic diversity of contemporary America's urban areas. In developing societies, I study the determinants of migration, urbanization, and their demographic and environmental consequences. In China and Vietnam, I examine the link between migration patterns and economic restructuring. Currently, I am very actively involved in field research in Ghana, where I coordinate an interdisciplinary project that brings demographers and biologists together to look at demographic change, health issues, and water quality along the coast. For the last several years I have taught Sociology 13 "American Heritage: Democracy, Inequality, and Public Policy." I also teach graduate courses in migration, sociological research methods, and other subjects. A list of publications and working papers appear elsewhere on this website. I have been a staff member of the Urban Institute and a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, both in Washington D.C.
Degrees
Ph. D.
Awards
Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2001
German Academic Exchange Service, Kurzstipendium, 1983
NICHD Fellow, University of Chicago, 1975-1978
Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard College, 1975
Affiliations
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Population Sciences Committee, 2002-06 (chair, 2004-06)
Advisory Board, Center for Institutions Population and the Environment, Indiana University, 2002-
Advisory Board, Migration Policy Institute, Washington, D.C., 2002-
National Science Foundation, Sociology Review Panel, 2001-03
Consultant, Annie E. Casey Foundation/Urban Institute Immigrant Community Data Workshop, 2002
NIH Study Section, temporary member, 2001
National Academy of Sciences, Panel on Urban Population Dynamics, 1999-2002
Population Association of America:
Publications Committee, 2006-
PAA Board, 1995-98
Finance Committee (chair, 1998)
Dorothy Thomas Award Committee, 1993-95 (chair, 1995)
PAA Fund review committee, 1999
Population Council:
Advisory Panel on Developing Country Demographic Training, 2000-02
Advisory Board, "Area-Base Socioeconomic Measures for Health Research," HSPH, 1999-2001
Working Group on Urbanization, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1996, 1998-99
Associate editor, American Journal of Sociology, 1998-2001
Editorial Advisory Board, Population Index, 1996-2000
American Sociological Association:
Rose Monograph Advisory Committee, 2000-
Population Section – Nominations chair, 1992-93
Nominations Committee, 2000-01 (chair, 2001)
Selection Committee, Census Fellows Program, PAA representative, 1988-92
Advisory Council, Sociology Department, Princeton University, 1991-
Proposal referee, NICHD special emphasis review panel, 1998, 1999, 2001
Proposal referee, NICHD ad hoc review panel, 1986, 1990
NICHD center grant site visit panel, 1988, 1997
Proposal referee, National Science Foundation
Proposal referee, Canada Council
Consultant, Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, 1993-94
Consultant, The Rand Corporation, 1986-88
Consultant, Merrill, Lynch, Inc., 1984
Consultant; Davis, Miner, Barnhill and Galland; 1982-83
Advisor, New Jersey State Data Center, 1983-84
Advisor, 1990 Census Geographic Planning, U.S. Bureau of the Census
Advisor, College Curriculum Support Service
Instructor, Research Methods in Social Development Workshop, Nigeria, 1981, 1982
Article referee, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, International Migration Review, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Population Index, Sociological Methodology, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Studies
Teaching
For undergraduates in most years I offer Soc 13, which introduces sociological approaches to policy issues. Among other course requirements, it asks students to produce a series of succinct policy memos on contemporary issues. At the graduate level, my teaching spans a range of sociological and demographic topics. I have offered courses in my own specialized areas of migration and urbanization, in demographic methods, and in the core graduate curriculum on principles of sociological analysis.
Funded Research
"Explaining Very Low Fertility in Italy" (D. Kertzer, PI), National Science Foundation, $250,000; National Institutes of Health; 2004-06; $787,957
"Urbanization, Health, and Environmental Quality in Coastal Ghana," National Institutes of Health; 2003-05; $200,000
"Urbanization and Environmental Impact in Coastal Ghana," MacArthur Foundation; 2000-03; $300,000
"First Year Doctoral Training for Students from Africa," PI, PSTC Training Grant; 2000-03; $270,000
Renewed 2003-05; $300,000
"Advancing Segregation Measurement," NSF; 1999-2003; $130,000
"Immigration and Early Life Course Transitions" (J. Glick, PI), NICHD; 1999-2002; $587,000
"The Kumasi [Ghana] Peri-Urban Survey" (element of PSTC award from Mellon Foundation, "Fertility in Developing Countries"); 1998-99; $25,000
"The Fate of Abandoned Children" (D. Kertzer, PI), NSF; 1996-98, $56,026
"Migration and Environmental Quality" (with L. Hunter), NICHD; 1995-97; $40,000
"Immigrant Adaptation," Interagency Personnel Agreement awarded to PSTC, Brown University; 1995-96; $61, 629
"Language Proficiency, Schooling and the Achievement of Immigrants," U.S. Department of Labor; 1995-96; $19,700
"Metropolitan Restructuring, Neighborhood Change, and Concentrated Poverty" (with H. Silver), NSF; 1992-96; $138,000
"The Substitution of Immigration for Internal Migration," Sloan Foundation; 1990-95; $55,000
"Integrated Analysis of Spatial Mobility" (with P. Mueser), NICHD; 1985-89; $314,000
"Neighborhoods in Urban Society," Russell Sage Foundation; 1982-84; $66,000
"The Changing Sociospatial Structure of the City" (D. J. Bogue, PI), NICHD; 1980-81; $38,000
"Internal Migration and Local Mobility within SMSAs" (D. J. Bogue, PI), NSF; 1980-81; $42,000
