The course will focus on the accelerating environmental and social risks which our society is facing and will continue to face in the coming years. Students will read the scientific and public policy literature related to the modeling and evaluation of these risks and present their assessment of their readings to their student peers. By the end of the semester, the successful student will have a thorough understanding of the degree of risk which society will have to mitigate and for which we as scientists will have to devise public policies. In addition, the course will strive to encourage students to carry out critical readings of the scientific and public policy literature as well as some popular debates on appropriate social responses to risk. Students will be required to defend their own scientific positions related to controversial scientific and public policy topics before their peers and practice the role of peer review by critically examing the work of each of the other members of the class.