Counting a nation of over 331 million people is an onerous task. The COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration’s insistence on adding a citizenship question, and other factors made counting “everyone once, only once, and in the right place” even more difficult in 2020. This class will provide an overview of how the US Census is conducted, the challenges and successes of the 2020 census enumeration, what we know about the quality of the count, and when and how the results of the 2020 Census have been and will be reported. We will also discuss the importance of the census for programs other than political apportionment and redistricting.

Recommended Reading (optional): The American Census: A Social History, Margo Anderson

Registration deadline: Jan. 29