Low fertility and population ageing have emerged in developed countries, while high fertility, high population growth and health threats, largely intertwined with poverty, continue to affect population dynamics and economic development in developing countries. Migration connects the North and South of the world in an important way. This course provides a graduate-level introduction to the study of
population, ranging from formal and applied demographic techniques to the study of current population trends and of their interrelationships with the economy. In the first part, students are introduced to the methods and materials of demography. We will also introduce computer-based examples based on real data (largely focusing on the use of the Stata software package, for which we do not necessarily assume prior knowledge). In the second part, specific topics of key relevance are discussed, with reference to up-to-date population research. All topics are introduced within an interdisciplinary approach drawing from demography, economics, social policy, sociology, and other social and biological sciences.
