Instructional Goals

• The course aims to provide the basic theoretical and methodological knowledge of demography as well as the main geo-demographic trends as an interpretative tool of today’s social challenges. Indeed, demography shapes much of our world and this has never been as true as it is today. The issues affecting the population, and its relationship with the territories, are increasingly present, albeit indirectly, in the academic, political and public debate: overpopulation, environmental pollution, food safety, availability and use of energy resources, urbanization, migrations flows, attraction of qualified human capital, geopolitical strategies, ethnic and religious conflicts, geo-economic competition, international trade, direct foreign investments.
• The well-known saying attributed to Auguste Comte that “demography is destiny”, of course, must not be taken in a deterministic and absolute means. However, the demographic variable has contributed – together with others – to tracing the political, economic and social evolution of peoples, human communities, States and geographical areas. If this has been true in the past – when population studies had a predominantly, if not solely, statistical-accounting significance – in recent decades, analysing the trend of the population has become a substantial moment for the interpretation of the configuration of the world.
• Our planet has witnessed a real geo-demographic revolution characterized by different evolutionary phases that have heavily influenced, and will continue to influence, the definition of territorial structures and human relations. The course will provide a broad outlook of these interconnections among the demographic trends and the political, and socioeconomic phenomena. Sustainability and the Euro-Mediterranean area, especially Italy, will be treated with a special emphasis.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding
The student – through course attendance and practical activities – will gain full knowledge of the general principles of demography and in particular the interlink of demography with International Relations, urbanization, geopolitical settings, economic development, and environment. A special emphasis will be put on the Euro-Mediterranean area and Italy. The assessment of the knowledge will take place during the course through quizzes administered on a weekly basis, and a deliverable (i.e., mini-paper) to be submitted as midterm test, as well as at the end of the course, through a written exam including three open questions on which students are required to elaborate on three demographic challenges.

Students will be able to interpret and apply, also to specific cases, principles of demography and population related challenges by identifying problems and possible solutions. The assessment of the ability to ‘apply knowledge and understanding’ will take place during the course through quizzes with multiple choice questions, a midterm test aimed at deepening the investigation of a specific demographic topic, and at the end of the course, through a written exam which requires the students to elaborate and critically comment on different demographic issues.

Students will acquire analytical skills and critical spirit in the investigation of demographic phenomena and the interconnected social challenges. By making use of the appropriate methods learned during the course, students will be able to collect demographic data and materials making the most appropriate selection among the available sources. Students will gain the ability to evaluate these demographic data and materials independently and to make critical judgements on their application to the specific demographic related social challenges.

By the end of the course, students will be able to transmit with clarity, rigor, and methodological consistency the different demographic challenges in the different socioeconomic and geo-political scenarios. Through the various activities that will take place during the course – lessons with discussion, debates, group work –students will be able to put these communication skills into practice in various contexts. They will learn to adapt the terms used to the interlocutor in the specific case, thus gaining advanced rhetorical skills necessary for the professional career.

By putting into practice the methodologies learned during lectures and seminars, the student will be able to elaborate insights and conduct research by consulting specialist texts and journals. The student will develop a solid knowledge of the fundamental aspects of the demographic matters and related social challenges that will allow him/her to carry on also independently further study in Demography and Population Studies as well as to undertake different postgraduate training activities including Demography related subjects.

Course Contents

• Introduction to the Course and Demographer’s Toolbox
• Evolution of the World Population and Demographic Transitions
• Population Dynamics: Fertility, Mortality and Migration
• Youth Bulge and Demographic Window of Opportunity
• Working Age Population and Population Ageing
• Demography, Global Migration Flows and Urbanisation
• Demography, Geopolitics and International Relations
• Demography, Ethnicity and Religion
• Demography, Economic Growth and Development
• Demography, Environment and Sustainability
• Demography, Europe and the Mediterranean
• Demography, Italy and Intergenerational Equity

Extended Program And Reference Reading Material

• Week 1 – Introduction to the Course and Demographer’s Toolbox
  Session online
  – Demography and social challenges: an overview of the course;
  – Basic demographic concepts: definitions and measures.
  Session on campus
  – Emerging issues: brainstorming on contemporary major social challenges.
  Lectures content
  – Harper, chapters 3, 4, 9;
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 2 – Evolution of the World Population and Demographic Transitions
  Session online
  – The evolution of the world population: historical and geographical paths;
  – The demographic transitions: the long view and the recent development.
  Session on campus
  – Major consequences of the demographic transitions. The current population transition stage. Discussion on different country case studies selected by the student’s lectures content.
  Lectures content
  – Harper, chapter 6;
  - Goldstone, chapter 1.
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 3 – Population Dynamics: Fertility, Mortality and Migration
  Session online
  – The demographic change: cross-temporal and cross-national trends
  – Fertility, mortality and migration: intertwined patterns over time.
  Session on campus
  – Webinar: Italian and African Geopolitical Perspectives
  Lectures content
  – Harper, chapters 5, 7.
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 4 – Youth Bulge and Demographic Window of Opportunity
  Session online
  – The Youth Bulge theory as a cause of conflict;
  – The Demographic Window of Opportunity as economic chance.
  Session on campus
  – How population structure can drive the future of a country: assumptions and comparisons on different case studies.
  Lectures content
  – Goldstone et al., chapters 7, 8.
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 5 – Working Age Population and Population Ageing
  Session online
  – Dependency ratio and support ratio; prospective and retrospective ageing
  – Declining or growing working age population by geographical areas
  Session on campus
  – Differential ageing by country and area: which challenges does it bring?
  Lectures content
  – Harper, chapter 8.
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 6 – Demography, Global Migration Flows and Urbanisation
  Session online
  – The global flows of people: theories and types of migration flows;
  – The differences in the urbanization processes in developed and developing countries.
  Session on campus
  – Causes and consequences of migration flows and urbanisation.
  Lectures content
  – Goldstone et al., chapter 12.
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 7 – Demography, Geopolitics and International Relations
  Session online
  – Population and national geopolitics;
  – Demographic trends and international relations.
  Session on campus
  The demographic decline and the end of Western Consensus? The demographic turmoil and the rising of a polycentric world?
  Lectures content
  – Goldstone et al., chapters 3, 4, 5;
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 8 – Demography, Ethnicity and Religion
  Session online
  – The politics of religious and ethnic demography;
  – Ethnic and religious conflicts.
  Session on campus
  State-of-the-art: empirical evidence and theoretical research.
  Lectures content
  – Goldstone et al., chapters 13, 14, 15, 16.
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 9 – Demography, Economic Growth and Development
  Session online
  – The geodemographic revolution: the global economy’s shifting centre of gravity;
  – The demographic challenges for the developing world.
  Session on campus
  – The demographic dividend in China, India and Asian tigers. The demographic traps for developing countries.
  Lectures content
  – Harper, chapter 10;
  – Goldstone et al., chapters 6, 7.
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 10 – Demography, Environment and Sustainability
  Session online
  – The impact of population on environment;
  – The impact of environmental change on population.
  Session on campus
  – Demography of disaster and sustainable development.
  Lectures content
  – Goldstone et al., chapter 9;
  Additional teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 11 – Demography, Europe and the Mediterranean
  Session online
  – Euro-Mediterranean demography: transitions, fertility and life expectancy;
  – Geo-economics of the new generations in the Mediterranean Arab countries.
  Session on campus
  – Urbanization, education and women: the three truly revolutionary elements.
  Lectures content
  Teaching materials provided by the professor.
• Week 12 – Demography, Italy and Intergenerational Equity
  Session online
  – Generations and collective choices in Italy last decades;
  – Italian demographic dynamics and sustainable population policies.
  Session on campus
  – Public investments and population change: the diverging time scales of demography and politics
  Lectures content
  Teaching materials provided by the professor.

Reference Texts

• Reference books
  – Harper S. (2018), Demography: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press;
  – Goldstone J.A., Kauffmann E.P., Duffy Toft M. (eds.) (2011), Political Demography: How Populations Changes are Reshaping International Security and National Politics, Oxford University Press.
• Additional teaching materials
  – Statistical data, official documents and papers issued by main International Organizations, Government Agencies, Universities and Research Centres;
  – Slides delivered by the professor.
  Most proposed readings are available via LUISS on-line subscriptions or will be uploaded on the course’s LUISS Learn page (here!).

Teaching Methods

• On line lectures with the support of audio-visuals
• Lectures by external experts
• Case studies with the direct involvement of students
• Inquiry based learning
• Problem based learning
• Peer education
• Flipped classroom

Assessment Method

The assessment of students will take place in two different ways:

1. in the middle of the course, through a written midterm test (i.e., a mini-paper)

2. at the end of the course, through a written test which includes three open-ended questions requiring narrative answers (minimum 1,000 words, and maximum 2,000 words).

The written midterm test weighs 35% on the final grade and can concerns either the non-compulsory readings suggested in the course program (see the appropriate box of the syllabus and the course’s LUISS e-Learn page) or the contents treated in the class during the first five weeks of the course. Papers are assessed according to the structure and the organization of the selected contents, the link of the arguments exposed and the critical elaboration of them, the clarity in the language, the accuracy in the indication of the sources and references, and the originality of the paper (for example, the inclusion of original inputs, like original graphs and tables created by using online data explorers and other useful statistics and data sources).

The final written exam weighs 65% on the final grade and concerns the compulsory readings of the course program (see the appropriate box of the syllabus) and the additional contents treated in the class. The student will be required to show that he/she knows and understands notions and principles of social demography and population studies and that he/she is able to apply them to practical cases. In addition, the student is expected to acquire the study method and the learning ability for carrying on, also individually, further study of demography. The written exam will have a duration of three hours and will be composed of 3 open questions (4 open questions plus a set of 10 multiple choice questions for students who could not attend the classes). The grade is expressed in thirtieths. The final evaluation is an average of the scores acquired for each open question of the test. Based on the level of preparation shown, student will get for each answer a score ranging from 17 to 31 which can be grouped in the following categories: insufficient (17); sufficient (18-20); good (21-23); very good (24-26); excellent (27-29); outstanding (30-31).

In order to assess the level of preparation of the student, the following evaluation criteria will be taken in to account: knowledge and understanding of the notions of demography and ability to apply them to concrete cases (65%); ability to communicate acquired skills clearly and with appropriate language; and ability to critically consult demographic data-sources and demography-related scientific literature (35%).

A more detailed version (for Course Content) of the Syllabus is available here: https://www.luiss.it/cattedreonline/corso/M354/B/LM20IRBASE/2020