Course information
Purpose & People
What this course is about
This course addresses scientific approaches to important environmental, public health, or technology issues through the topic of existential risk. By combining relevant scientific perspectives with the traditional study of risk, this course will provide students a framework to understand and assess a variety of risks. We will discuss various risk management strategies and how to apply them, both in traditional risk settings as well as to existential risk.
The main focus of the course is on “existential” risks or “global catastrophic” risks. These are society-level risks so large that they might impact (and potentially kill) everyone, and where potential responses must be at the societal level. These include the risks associated with climate change, pandemics, artificial intelligence, and asteroids/comets/volcanoes that cannot be managed with traditional insurance products.
Designed for
Interested learners. No specific prior knowledge is assumed.
Why this is public
We want people to have exposure to these important themes that would otherwise be available only to students enrolled at the university.
Professor Stephen H. Shore originally designed and led this course for in-person undergraduate students at Georgia State University. Abbad Ali and Suyog Thengale later helped develop the online version and contributed to selected modules. Abbad worked primarily on artificial intelligence and humanity’s future and subsequently prepared the public version. Professor Shore retains copyright to the original course materials.
Course team
Read about Professor Stephen H. Shore, Abbad Ali, and Suyog Thengale →