Syllabus

Title
4849 Concentration Area - Population, Human Capital and Policy I
Instructors
Univ.Prof. Mag. Wolfgang Lutz, M.A.,Ph.D.
Type
PI
Weekly hours
2
Language of instruction
Englisch
Registration
02/04/19 to 02/22/19
Registration via LPIS
Notes to the course
Dates
Day Date Time Room
Monday 04/29/19 12:30 PM - 04:00 PM D4.0.039
Tuesday 04/30/19 01:00 PM - 04:00 PM D5.1.003
Monday 05/06/19 12:30 PM - 04:00 PM D4.0.039
Tuesday 05/07/19 01:00 PM - 04:00 PM D5.1.003
Monday 05/13/19 12:30 PM - 04:00 PM TC.3.07
Tuesday 05/14/19 01:00 PM - 04:00 PM D4.0.133
Monday 05/20/19 12:30 PM - 04:00 PM D4.0.127
Monday 05/27/19 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM TC.3.07
Contents
This course will introduce the students to the fundamental demographic concepts and their applications to the study of human capital formation. It will familiarize students with the basic demographic indicators, data and methods that are necessary to describe population dynamics by age, gender and level of education and produce population projections. The course will also provide an overview over past and current trends in population and human capital (education and health) in all parts of the world with an emphasis on the process of demographic transition. It will also address the consequences of changes in population size and age structure as well as the changing human capital on a broad range of social and economics development indicators in different parts of the world. Finally, the student will get acquainted with the history of population related policies in developed and developing nations over the past decades and the new efforts to broaden such policies through the explicit consideration of human capital with respect to education and health.
Learning outcomes

After completion of this course, students will be able to

· collect and interpret basic demographic indicators from published statistics

· calculate life tables and different indicators of reproduction

· design and interpret simple population projections

· Interpret new developments in the international discussions about population, education and health policies

· perform comparative studies of demographic, education and health trends in different countries and on different continents and evaluate the results and their policy implications in the context of different analytical frameworks.

Attendance requirements

For Courses with continuous Assessment (PI) attendance is mandatory. [...] Further information w.r.t. absences may be provided in the 1st course unit if required. Attendance is compulsory in the 1st course unit.

Teaching/learning method(s)

The course is based on a discussion of readings and lectures as well as hands-on calculations of demographic models and projections using existing software. Students will also have to search for their own data on the internet and download it for the calculations to be presented in the student presentations.Apart from regular active participation in class and in group discussions,students will have to deliver individual short papers (including literature reviews, discussion of data and results of own calculations) on assigned topics, provide brief presentations on these issues and do a final exam on the course contents.

  • Readings
  • Lectures
  • Class discussions
  • Discussions in subgroups
  • Reflections in individual essays
  • Student presentations
  • Exam
Assessment

Active participation in class 30%
Short presentation, participation in debate 20%
Exam 50%

Prerequisites for participation and waiting lists

Successful completion of semester 1 of MSc SEEP.

Recommended previous knowledge and skills

Some basic knowledge in mathematics and statistics is required (corresponding to what is taught at the WU as compulsory undergraduate courses for a Bachelor in social sciences).

Unit details
Unit Date Contents
1
Last edited: 2019-02-21



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