Register for Oct. 30 Korbel undergrad sprint on "What Do We Know About the Future?"

Can we actually predict the future?

The short answer is no—but there are lots of useful tools to understand which future conditions and events are more or less certain.

This one-day sprint course, presented by Pardee Institute Director and Korbel Associate Professor Dr. Jonathan D. Moyer equips students with knowledge and tools to navigate between probable continuity and deep uncertainty. Students explore why long-term demographic shifts are knowable decades in advance, while events like financial panics and civil conflicts are much more difficult to foresee.

Working with systems tools and scenario methods, participants unpack their own intuitive mental models, map feedback loops, and analyze how different policy decisions can impact long-term trends in violence, economic prosperity, human wellbeing, and environmental crisis. The course replaces naive crystal-ball predictions with actionable frameworks to evaluate policy tradeoffs, design resilient interventions, and navigate a world where knowledge is always incomplete. Students will gain knowledge and skills relevant to future careers in public policy, international affairs, business, and non-profits.

Lunch provided. To register, please email Mayumi Beckelheimer, Director of Undergraduate Programs, at [email protected].