This course is available on the BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Environment and Development, BSc in Social Policy, BSc in Social Policy and Economics, BSc in Social Policy and Sociology and BSc in Social Policy with Government. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This course is also an option for third year students in social policy and outside the department, where the regulations permit.

As a general introduction to Population Studies, it assumes no previous knowledge of the subject.

The course is concerned with inter-relationships between the population characteristics of a society (fertility, mortality and migration) and their economic and social context. Both the causes of population change and their consequences are examined. The approach of the course is comparative across time and space: it covers population issues across the developed and developing world, and examines trends over time in both regions. The course will address key global debates which include: is population growth sustainable; what is the relationship between population size and available resources; what are the social, biological and economic influences on population growth rates, especially the role of famine, disease and war. What role have family planning programmes in decreasing population size; is ageing a threat. A wide range of topics is covered, including the demographic and health transitions; HIV/AIDS; fertility decline; the changing characteristics of the family; global trends in population ageing and their social and economic consequences for the elderly; theories and trends in migration; urbanisation.

10 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 1 hour and 30 minutes of lectures and 1 hour of classes in the ST.

Students are expected to prepare at least one class presentation per term and complete two mock exams (one in each of LT and ST).

Detailed reading lists are provided at the beginning of each term. Key overview texts include: M Livi-Bacci, A Concise History of World Population; H Jones, Population Geography; E A Wrigley, Population and History; W Lutz, The Future Population of the World.

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the summer exam period.