INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
For our Population Issue, we are looking for articles that provide our readers with critical information about challenges related to population. This information
should be presented through an engaging article that features your Global Villager. Your approach should provide readers an opportunity to relate to more abstract
concepts through human stories and connections.
While working on your article for the Population Issue, we suggest working through a process that ensures well-planned and executed writing:
1. Conduct research and assess:
How the country to which you have been assigned is impacted by population challenges such as growth, aging, migration, and urbanization.
How the country to which you have been assigned is contributing to population challenges such as growth, aging, migration, and urbanization, for better or worse.
2. Interview your Global Villager, finding a personal story about his or her own experience with respect to growth, aging, migration, and urbanization.
3. Organize your thoughts and collect all information and quotes you wish to use as you write the article.
4. Write the article, and give it an editing pass before submitting. (Remember, this is published work).
For this first challenge, we are providing specific instructions for statistic gathering and presentation in your country research. However, in the interview with your
Global Villager, we urge you to expand your focus to the major subtrends within population (e.g., growth, urbanization). Also, in future challenges, we will not
provide you with a similar level of specificity as you explore the resources, so please use the examples below to help guide you as you dig into the resources in
future lessons. In addition to the sources presented in our lessons and your own internet search, review and rely on the following sources:
United Nations World Population Dashboard (Hover over your country in the interactive dashboard; is life expectancy high? Is the birth rate high? Drawing on what
you’ve learned about demographic transitions, what does this data tell you about a demographic transition in your country?)
Migration Policy Institute (Select your country at the bottom of this map in the dropdown menu, then hover over 2-3 other countries to see where a) the top 3 countries
where immigrants in your country are from and b) the 3 top countries where migrants from your country are located. Note: the size of the bubbles on the map indicate
the top countries for immigrants and migrants.)
Population Reference Bureau World Population Data Sheet & Interactive Map (Use the interactive map to determine the current population, and projected population in
2030. Also consider family planning, looking at the rate of total contraception use, and life expectancy at birth for males and females.)
World Bank Population Indicators (In overview of each country, find the rate of population growth between 1960 and 2015)
