Study Historical Economic Demography at LSE

Historical economic demography is taught in a number of courses across the undergraduate programme. These courses are available to all students on the BSc Economic History, BSc Economics and Economic History and BSc Economic History and Geography programmes. Some of them are available to outside option students and general course students as well. Note that all courses are not necessarily offered every year, so you need to check LSE’s course listing (the Calendar) to see whether the courses are available in a given academic year. 

Key courses: 

EH209 – The Family Economy in History: 1260 to the present (Sara Horrell)

• Covers the European Marriage Pattern, family living standards and gender inequality

EH237 - Theories and Methods in Economic History (Eric Schneider and Patrick Wallis)

• This course teaches students how to do historical research and how to conduct quantitative methods in economic history research
• The group research project has topics related to historical economic demography and the quantitative methods section is taught in relation to demographic data such as height and mortality data.

EH238 – The Origins of Growth (Neil Cummins)

• Malthusian population dynamics, mortality, fertility, the demographic transition, marriage, and social mobility

EH317 – Disease, Health and History (Eric Schneider)

• Explores how infectious disease has shaped past populations
• Covers the Colombian Exchange epidemics, the health transition, inequalities in health and the eradication of infectious disease

Additional courses with HED content: 

EH101 – The Internationalisation of Economic Growth (Neil Cummins, Sara Horrell and Chris Minns)

• Covers health, living standards and nineteenth century mass migration

EH102 – Pre-industrial Economic History (Jordan Claridge and Oliver Volckart)

• Covers the European Marriage Pattern and Malthusian population dynamics

EH207 – China since 1800: Culture, institutions and economic growth (Melanie Xue)

• Covers population growth, famine, social mobility and gender differences in mortality

EH211 – Africa and the World Economy, 1500-2000

• Covers the transatlantic slave trade and gender inequality in Africa

EH222 – Economic History of the Middle East and North Africa (Mohamed Saleh)

• Covers the demographic transition in the Middle East and North Africa

EH304 – The Economic History of North America: from Colonial Times to the Cold War (Chris Minns)

• Covers the history of migration to North America

EH307 – The Economic History of South Asia, 1600-2000 (Tirthankar Roy)

• Covers the demographic transition and the end of famines in India

EH308 – Historical Economic Geography: Cities, Markets and Regions in the 19^th and 20^th Centuries (Joan Roses)

• Covers urbanisation and urban health

EH316 – Atlantic World Slavery (Anne Ruderman)

• Covers the transatlantic slave trade and the health and marriage patterns of enslaved people

The economic history department offers two summer school courses that have dimensions of historical economic demography to them. 

EC103 – Inequality: Economic, Historical and Sociological Perspectives (Neil Cummins, Joan Roses and Mike Savage)

• Covers social mobility and inequality in health

EC104 – The Wealth (and Poverty) of Nations: Global Economic Development Past and Present (Jordan Claridge and Karolina Hutkova)

• Covers Malthusian population dynamics

Historical economic demography is taught in a number of courses at the masters level. These courses are available to all students on the MSc Economic History, MSc Economic History (Research), MSc Political Economy of Late Development and MSc in Global Economic History (Erasmus Mundus) programmes, subject to availability and students meeting prerequisites. Some of the courses are available to students outside the Department of Economic History as well. Note that all courses are not necessarily offered every year, so you need to check LSE’s course listing (the Calendar) to see whether the courses are available in a given academic year. 

Key Courses: 

EC465 – Economic Growth, Development, and Capitalism in Historical Perspective (Neil Cummins, Jeremiah Dittmar and Melanie Xue)

• Covers Malthusian population dynamics, demographic transition, mortality and marriage

EH442 – Labour Markets in Historical Perspective (Chris Minns)

• Covers migration and social mobility

EH444 – Population Dynamics and Economic Growth (Eric Schneider)

• Covers pre-industrial population dynamics, the health transition, fertility and mortality decline
• Also introduces the sources and methods used to study historical economic demography

Additional courses with HED content: 

EH401 – Historical Analysis of Economic Change (Anne Ruderman and Mohamed Saleh)

• Covers health and living standards

EH482 – The Origins of the World Economy: Europe and Asia, 1000-1800 (Jordan Claridge and Anne Ruderman)

• Covers epidemics, Malthusian population dynamics and the European Marriage Pattern

EH483 – The Development and Integration of the World Economy in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Albrecht Ritschl and Joan Roses)

• Covers Malthusian population dynamics, the demographic transition and mass migration before WWI

DV411 – Population and Development: an Analytical Approach (Arjan Gjonca)

• Covers the demographic transition and population growth in the long run

DV444 – Global Health Challenges: Epidemics, Disease, and Public Health Response (Arjan Gjonca)

• Covers demographic, epidemiologic and health transition theory and historical pandemics

DV476 – Population Analysis: Methods and Models (Arjan Gjonca)

• Covers basic demographic methods, often in relation to historical trends

GI417 – Feminist Population Politics (Wendy Sigle)

• Covers philosophy/history of science in demography, fertility decline and family planning

Masters students are welcome to attend workshops and events run by the LSE Historical Economic Demography Group as well as research seminars organised by the Economic History Department and Population at LSE, the network of demographers in the school.