Demographic issues and challenges in the 21st century

Teacher(s)

Bocquier Philippe; Schnor Christine;

Language

French

Main themes

Each year, this course is structured around the study of eight to ten topics relating to major issues in contemporary Sociodemographics. These issues relate as much to socio-demographic developments and progress in health, as to their causes and economic, social, political and environmental consequences.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	This course aims to give 2nd and 3rd year students on any Bachelor's degree programme a broad overview of the major socio-demographic challenges, which various Northern and Southern regions of the world will face in the 21st century. It also aims to teach students to take a certain critical distance from various commonly held prejudices and presuppositions.

Content

This course offers a broad panorama of the major socio-demographic challenges that the various regions of the world, both North and South, will face in the 21st century. The questions addressed cover both socio-demographic and health trends, as well as their economic, social, political and environmental causes and consequences. The course intends to give students a certain critical distance from public debates on socio-demographic phenomena.
The course is structured around eight to ten themes relating to major contemporary socio-demographic issues. Among the themes covered are:
The demographic transition in different regions of the world
Social demography: its place in the human sciences and in the major societal debates.
The peopling of the planet and the diversity of demographic dynamics in the world.
The aging of the world: trends, causes and consequences.
Accelerated urbanization in the countries of the South.
Causes and consequences of international migration.
Health, social and gender inequalities.
Geography and demography of AIDS and other communicable diseases.
Households, families and societies.
Population policies.

Teaching methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

Lectures with interactive elements and tests (Moodle and QR codes) in the classroom
Weekly homework assignments (text to read, video to watch)
A collective exercise will be organized in mid-November
The material is put on Moodle after the session.
A syllabus is available from DUC (printed version) and Moodle (digital version).

Evaluation methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

Throughout the quadrimester: 20% tests in class.
At each class, there will be 2 MCQ type tests to be taken. Each test counts for 2 points. For the first test, a preparation before the course is necessary. The second test will be based on the content of the session. During the quadrimester, there will be tests in 9 sessions (indicated by "(t)" in the schedule). Of the 18 tests, the 10 best results will be selected.
Evaluation criterion: the correct answer must be selected.
Once during the quadrimester: 10% individual exercise.
The student writes on the Moodle "workshop" tool a structured answer to an open-ended exam-type question. The answer is structured in 4 parts: definition of concepts; establishment of facts; answer to the question; discussion of consequences/challenges.
Evaluation criteria: completion of each part according to the instructions given by the teachers.
Once during the course: 5% individual exercise.
The student receives via Moodle the answers to the previous exercise from 2 classmates and has to evaluate them double-blind.
Evaluation criteria: having completed each part of the evaluation of the text according to the criteria given by the teachers.
At the end of the course: 65% written exam.
1 open-ended question that requires a structured answer (like the individual exercise) graded out of 35 points
A list of 3 short questions (comments on graphs or tables) scored out of 30 points.
Evaluation criteria: see learning outcomes.

Other information

Course entry requirements: This course does not require any specific statistical or demographic training.
COVID-19 : 
In yellow code, the auditorium is large enough to accommodate all the students in person. However, if the number of students is larger than expected or if the orange code is applied, then the teaching will switch to a comodal format (half of the cohort in the classroom, the other half in distance learning, alternately from one week to the next).
Regardless of the teaching mode, the evaluation mode remains the same. Classroom exercises are adapted to sanitation rules.

Online resources

Materials : provision of references, presentations and other course materials on MoodleUCL.

Bibliography

Bibliographie mise à disposition à chaque séance en fonction du thème abordée. Un syllabus est disponible à la DUC (version imprimée) et Moodle (version digitale).

Faculty or entity

ESPO