Big Questions Course
HOW WILL THE WORLD END? OR, EXISTENTIAL RISK AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
HUMA 141 • Spring 2027
Course Overview
Doomsday. How will it happen? We are so familiar with narratives of technological progress and innovation that the idea of a final, catastrophic end can feel both distant and imminent. But what would such an end look like? Will the end of the world come from a natural and unavoidable peril like an asteroid impact or a new pandemic? Or from something that we have deliberately or inadvertently done to ourselves—nuclear war, engineered pathogens, a population explosion, or an AI apocalypse yet to be imagined?
What You Will Gain
In this course on the history of science, we will trace some key moments in the history of existential risk from earlier times to the urgent crises of today. We will analyze how scientists and policymakers identify global hazards, communicate risk and threat, and attempt to govern technologies that could bring about the end of the world—or ensure its salvation.