HIST 292

Catalog description

Exploration of how population growth came to be identified and considered a “threat” to the planet. Consideration of writings of Thomas Malthus, a prophet of population limits, and the influence of his ideas through time and around the world: birth control pills in Puerto Rico; sterilization in India; one-child policy in China; development of metrics of population “quality” in the modern insurance industry; demographic change in Africa. Employment of basic demographic tools: standardization for comparing populations, life tables for understanding mortality conditions, and lexis diagrams for analyzing social change.