Instructor:
Why are people all over the world having fewer babies? In Japan, the population is projected to shrink by one-third by 2100. In the United States, the fertility rate is down to 1.7 (well below the replacement rate of 2.1). In Korea it’s down to 0.8. This empirical engagement class introduces students to empirical research from a wide range of disciplines (including economics, sociology, and biology) that provide partial answers to this question. Along the way, we will learn how all of these disciplines employ similar scientific methods to understand fertility trends while nevertheless highlighting distinct aspects of the problem. While science can tell us a lot about why there are fewer babies, figuring out what we should do about this trend requires us to bring our values into the equation.