2020-21

The course introduces students to the chief concepts and principles of demography and to the basic techniques employed in the study of demographic phenomena. Particular emphasis is laid upon the links between demography and biological, historical, social and economic phenomena and the cultural features of various human populations.

The French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution were fundamental to the shaping of the societies of contemporary Europe. The course deals with the ideological fermentation and uprisings of the early decades of the 19th century that stemmed from these two revolutions, the development of the Industrial Revolution and extensive urbanization, from nationalism and the formation of nation-states, liberalism, the evolution of European political systems, trade unionism and commercial rivalry, extensive colonial expansion and militarism.

The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the biology of man and the demography of a series of populations studied by anthropologists, such as the Ache, !Kung, Rendille and the Hutterites and to lead students to the study of the forces that shape the progress of such populations in space and over time.
Course outline:
Population structure and size of population: The examples of the Ache and the Dobe !Kung
Mortality and life expectancy among the Ache, !Kung, Bari, Agta, etc.

This course introduces students to social and cultural anthropology and therefore focuses on the concepts of society, culture and civilization.  It therefore introduces students to the different anthropological directions involved in the inquiry of these matters. Students will learn about the trajectory of anthropology and the different schools/perspectives that evolved from the early 20th century down to the post-war period and recent trends. Thus we will examine and assess functionalism, structural-functionalism, structuralism and post-structural studies.