Call for papers

International Seminar on Trade-offs in Female Life Histories: Raising New Questions in an Integrative Framework

Bristol, United Kingdom, 23-25 July 2008

Organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Evolutionary Perspectives in Demography,
in collaboration with the University of Bristol, and with support from the British Society for Population Studies and the Galton Institute

Background

Evolutionary biologists have developed life history theory to identify the trade-offs individuals must make in allocating resources between growth, reproduction and the maintenance of body condition. Demographers, anthropologists and other human scientists have increasingly been focusing on these trade-offs, in an attempt to understand the patterning of fertility, mortality, growth and aging across human populations. In this seminar we would like to bring a broad contextual consideration to three different female trade-offs: age at first reproduction, number of offspring produced, and amount invested in each offspring. While there is plenty of empirical data on each of these trade-offs, there has been little attempt to develop broader conceptual models for considering the trade-off in its social, ecological and institutional context. We aim to bring researchers together from a variety of disciplinary and methodological backgrounds to develop an integrative approach to understanding these trade-offs. This 2nd meeting of the IUSSP Panel on Evolutionary Perspectives on Demography follows on from a fruitful workshop on “The Ecology of the Male Life Course” held in October 2006, and we intend to replicate the successful cross-disciplinary and international nature of the 1st meeting with this complementary integrative seminar on the life history trade-offs of women.

The Goals of the Seminar

This seminar aims to integrate perspectives from life history with the growing body of knowledge regarding hormonal, immunological, developmental, psychological and behavioural aspects of female life history trade-offs. Our goal is to provide a forum in which ultimate and proximate analyses of female life histories can be discussed by scholars from different disciplinary specializations, with the aim of providing new perspectives on important demographic phenomena. In particular, our aim is to provide new synthetic perspectives on the key questions that engage evolutionary researchers: variability in a) age at first reproduction, b) total fertility, and c) parental investment across and within populations. A second goal of the seminar is to develop the techniques that are needed to understand the evolution of such trade-offs. These include discussing both the methodologies and logistics of comparative analysis: given that one of the defining characteristics of our species is our variability, it is vital to bring together researchers working on a wide variety of populations, including both historical populations and contemporary populations (ranging from industrialized economies, through mixed economies to subsistence agriculture and hunter-gatherer communities), to share their expertise. In addition to developing comparative work, theoretical modelling of life history trade-offs is another route to understanding trade-offs in evolutionary context, since the costs and benefits of such trade-offs can be artificially manipulated in theoretical models. We will also bring together theoretical and empirical perspectives on these trade-offs. A third goal of the workshop will be to discuss the prospects for applied work in this field. Work on these trade-offs has so far been largely confined to, and disseminated within, an academic context, but has the potential to yield insights which have important practical applications.

Date and Location of the Seminar

A 3-day seminar 23-25 July 2008 at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
Local organising committee: Dr Mhairi Gibson (local host) and Dr Rebecca Sear.

Format of the seminar
The seminar will be limited to 26 participants (including all speakers and organisers), and will be organised around three crucial life-history trade-offs, with papers that address the overall theoretical perspective, overview current knowledge and introduce new research findings:
- Day 1: Age at first reproduction
- Day 2: Total fertility
- Day 3: Parental investment

We invite both empirical and theoretical contributions, as well as contributions that blend theoretical models with empirical data. Empirical support may be at various levels, including:
1. Molecular and cellular (e.g. hormones, immunological status and disease susceptibility over the lifespan).
2. Physiological and developmental (e.g. trade-offs between reproductive and somatic functions, between growth and reproduction).
3. Psychological (e.g. emotional, sensory and cognitive differences)
4. Behavioural and sociological (e.g. parenting, grand-parenting, family structure and family behaviour)

In addition, we have invited four plenary speakers to contribute to the seminar:
- Professor Gillian Bentley, University of Durham
- Professor Emily Grundy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- Professor Kristen Hawkes, University of Utah
- Professor Beverly Strassmann, University of Michigan

Submission procedure

The IUSSP Scientific Panel on Evolutionary Perspectives in Demography invites researchers in the field to submit a detailed 500 word abstract (and if the author(s) wish, a full paper which must be unpublished) and fill out the online submission form before 22 February 2008.

If the paper is co-authored, please indicate the names of co-authors at the end of the abstract. Submission should be made by the author who will attend the seminar.

Abstracts and papers must be submitted in English. The working language at the meeting will be English. In addition to dissemination through posting on the member-restricted portion of the IUSSP website, seminar organisers will explore possibilities for publishing the papers, after the seminar.
Please be aware that the programme committee may suggest some modifications – depending on what other presentations have been offered. The final list of invited participants will depend on the overall coverage of topics in the area.

Applicants will be notified whether their contribution has been accepted by 15 March 2008. In the case of acceptance on the basis of an abstract, the completed paper must be submitted by 15 June 2008.

Thanks to generous support from the IUSSP, the British Society for Population Studies and the Galton Institute, the organisers will pay for expenses at the meeting location for all participants. However, current funding for the seminar is limited; efforts are under way to raise additional funds, but the outcome is at this point uncertain. Participants are therefore encouraged to seek their own funding to cover their travel costs to attend the seminar. Those who are applying for financial assistance should indicate their need when they submit by ticking the appropriate box on the on-line submission form when submitting paper or abstract. Applicants will be informed of the status of their application for financial support at the latest by 22 May 2008.

For further information, please contact Dr Mhairi Gibson (mhairi.gibson@bristol.ac.uk) or Dr Rebecca Sear (r.sear@lse.ac.uk).

Steering committee of the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Evolutionary Perspectives in Demography:

Co-chairs:
Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, (University of California Davis, USA)
Debra Judge (University of Western Australia, Australia)
Members:
Hillard Kaplan (University of New Mexico, US)
Ulrich O. Mueller (Marburg University, Germany)