Modeling Human Systems with International Futures (Course 3)

This course builds on the IFs skills and concepts introduced in Courses 1 and 2 to examine the human systems that shape long-term development. 

You will begin with demography, where population size, age structure, fertility, mortality, and migration create patterns that can influence economic and social outcomes over decades. You will then examine health, including how disease burdens change as countries develop and how health outcomes interact with productivity, public spending, and human well-being. 

The course next turns to education, tracing how access, attainment, quality, and gender disparities affect human capital formation. It concludes by connecting all three systems, examining how changes in education and health can influence fertility, labor-force participation, productivity, and economic growth over time. 

Throughout the course, you will work directly in IFs. You will use tools such as the Population Pyramid and Flexible Displays to analyze historical data and forecasts, compare countries and regions, and build scenarios that examine how changes in one human system may produce effects across others. 

By the end of the course, you will be able to analyze demographic, health, and education trends; build and compare human-development scenarios; trace cross-system effects; and communicate the implications of your findings for long-term planning and strategy. 

This course is fully asynchronous and self-paced. Completion of Courses 1 and 2 is recommended before beginning.

Estimated learning hours: 15-20 hours