Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Research and Teaching in Historical Demography Workshop

17 and 18 April 2023, LSE and online (see programme below for details)

Researchers and students studying historical demography come from a wide range of disciplines including anthropology, demography, economic history, economics, epidemiology, family history, geography, medical history, population data science, and social history. This variety of disciplines makes the field vibrant, but it also means that students learn about key historical demographic phenomena mostly from a particular disciplinary background.

To promote greater understanding and collaboration across disciplines, we are organising a two-day workshop onInterdisciplinary Perspectives on Research and Teaching in Historical Demography, supported by the Economic History Society, British Society for Population Studies, LSE Economic History Department and LSE Eden Centre, to be held at LSE on 17 and 18 April 2023 in MAR 206. While the speakers at the workshop will be present in London, we will also welcome online engagement via Zoom, and the room has good hybrid capabilities. The sessions will be recorded and shared afterwards.

The workshop will consist of a blend of research and teaching-focussed sessions throughout both days. In the research sessions, leading historical demographers from different disciplinary backgrounds will present their ongoing work to highlight the diversity of approaches to historical demography research. The teaching sessions will take a panel format with the purpose of 1) identifying the differences in the way each discipline approaches the teaching of and research in historical demography and 2) beginning to build a consensus on key concepts, methods and approaches that students of historical demography should be taught regardless of their discipline.

Please register to attend the workshop using the following link: https://forms.gle/6wnK6ia6YM6ywi3a8. In-person attendance is limited because of space constraints. Please register for in-person attendance by 27 March 2023.

Monday 17 April

11:00–11:15: Introduction

11:15–13:00: Research: Health and Fertility

Eric Schneider (LSE), Atmospheric Pollution and Child Morbidity from Respiratory Diseases: Evidence from the London Foundling Hospital 1897-1914.

Romola Davenport (Cambridge), The Historical Impact of Malaria in Britain, A Pilot Study.

Violetta Hionidou (Newcastle), Birth Control Methods Employed During Greece's Fertility Decline.

13:00–14:00: Lunch

14:00–15:45: Research: Big Data: Prospects and Problems

Lee Williamson (Edinburgh), Building the Scottish Historic Population Platform (SHiPP): Creating Research-ready Data using Scottish Civil Registration Certificates (births, deaths and marriages 1855-1973) - plans, progress and initial findings.

Hilde Somerseth (Arctic University of Norway), A Critical View of Reported Age in Norwegian Historical Population Microdata.

Chris Minns (LSE), The Geography of Economic Opportunity in 19th century Canada.

15:45-16:15: Coffee Break

16:15–17:30: Teaching: Interdisciplinarity in the Classroom

Wendy Sigle (LSE), Chair

Speakers: Rebeca Gomez Betancourt (University of Lyon 2), Rishita Nandagiri (King's College London) and Rebecca Sear (LSHTM)

17:30–18:00: Reflections on the Day

19:00 – Dinner (by invitation)

Tuesday 18 April

9:30–11:15: Research: Marriage

Faustin Perrin (Lund), Gender Equality, Marriage Patterns and the Demographic Transition.

Joe Day (Bristol), Marriage is Hard Work: Women's Work in the Breadwinner Economy.

Xizi Luo (LSE), Parental Dictates: Marriage Sorting and Social Mobility in Imperial China, 1614-1854.

11:15–11:45: Coffee Break

11:45–12:45: Teaching: Introducing Students to Historical Demography: Transitions

Nicola Shelton (UCL), Chair

Speakers: Josephine Ackah (LSHTM), Sarah Rafferty (ONS), Alice Reid (Cambridge) and Nilofer Sait (LSE)

12:45–13:45: Lunch

13:45–14:45: Teaching: Sources

Eilidh Garrett (Edinburgh), Chair

Speakers: Neil Cummins (LSE), Violetta Hionidou (Newcastle), Tim Riswick (Radboud University) and Hilde Sommerseth (Arctic University of Norway)

14:45–15:15: Coffee Break

15:15–16:15: Teaching: Quantitative Methods Across Disciplines

Eric Schneider (LSE), Chair

Speakers: Hampton Gaddy (Oxford), Mike Murphy (LSE) and Faustine Perrin (Lund)

16:15–16:30: Closing Discussion

16:30–18:00: Reception

A selection of video recordings are available below:

Eric Schneider (LSE) - full recording here

Wendy Siegel (LSE), Chair, Rebeca Gomez Betancourt (University of Lyon 2), Rishita Nandagiri (KCL), and Rebecca Sear (LSHTM) - full recording here.

Eilidh Garrett (Edinburgh) and Nicola Shelton (UCL) Chairs - full recording here.

Nicola Shelton (UCL) Chair, Josephine Ackah (LSHTM), Sarah Rafferty (ONS), Alice Reid (Cambridge) and Nilofer Sait (LSE) - full recording here.

Eilidh Garrett (Edinburgh) Chair, Neil Cummins (LSE), Violetta Hionidou (Newcastle), Tim Riswick (Radboud University) and Hilde Sommerseth (Arctic University of Norway) - full recording here.

Eric Schneider (LSE) Chair, Hampton Gaddy (Oxford), Mike Murphy (LSE) and Faustine Perrin (Lund) - full recording here.

Wendy Sigle (LSE) Chair - full recording here.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Research and Teaching in Historical Demography Workshop

Hosted by the Department of Economic History, LSE

Workshop programme

Workshop Introduction

Interdisciplinarity in the Classroom

Day 1 Closing Discussion

Introducing Students to Historical Demography - Transitions

Teaching Sources

Quantitative Methods Across Disciplines

Day 2 Closing Discussion