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Jennifer Johnson-Hanks is a cultural demographer whose empirical work focuses on family variation and change, particularly how intentions matter in contexts of uncertainty. Her book, "Uncertain Honor", published by the University of Chicago Press in 2006, explores the relationship between population rates and cultural practices through the study of motherhood transitions among educated women in Southern Cameroon. By integrating demographic and ethnographic evidence with theory, she argues that young Cameroonian women delay motherhood as part of a broader effort to assert a modern form of honor made possible by education, Catholicism, and economic change. Co-authoring with Phil Morgan, Chris Bachrach, and Hans-Peter Kohler, she published "Understanding Family Change and Variation: A Theory of Conjunctural Action" in 2011. This work indicates that social demography has moved away from core debates in social theory and provides a framework for reintegration. Her upcoming book, "Count", examines the fact that quantitative data about people in society is becoming increasingly common yet less visible, discussing how quantitative methods serve as essential tools for understanding societal changes and the dynamics of social groups.
University of California, Berkeley • Berkeley, CA
Serves as a Professor and Executive Dean, College of Letters & Science.
The Mathematics Subject GRE is required for the Fall 2026 admissions cycle. General GRE is optional.