Intro Fellowship

A six-week discussion group on how to do the most good with your time and money. You’ll meet every Saturday in a small group with a facilitator.

Fall applications are closed

We’ll run it again in the spring. In the meantime, anyone can use the readings below.

Notify me Fellows’ Slack

Logistics

You don’t have to agree with EA by the end. We mostly care that you think it through.

When
Saturdays, 6–7 PM, right after Cornell EA socials
Where
RPCC 105
Dates
Oct 24 to Dec 5, with Thanksgiving weekend off
Format
6 sessions, 60 min, small groups with a facilitator
Prep
60–75 min reading + a short exercise
Completion
Come to at least 5 of the 6 sessions
Missed one?
Tell your facilitator beforehand and they’ll help you catch up
Afterwards
A closing celebration with a giving game, and an optional 1-on-1

Got prelims during the fellowship? Tell us the dates in Week 1. If we’re serving food, let us know about any dietary or accessibility needs.

Inside a session

You do the reading beforehand, so most of the hour goes to an activity.

Workshop, 30 min. The main activity for the week, like comparing charities or running a mock hearing.

If there’s something you want to discuss, post a question in Slack.

Cause investigation

You’ll pick a cause with a partner and spend about 15 minutes a week looking into it. In the last week, you pitch it to the group.

  1. Pick a cause and a partner

    Scout mindset

  2. Estimate its scale, with bounds

    Fermi estimation

  3. List everyone affected

    Impartiality

  4. Find two orgs working on it

    Neglectedness

  5. Forecast one key uncertainty

    Forecasting

  6. Pitch it in 3 minutes, one slide

    Communication

At the closing celebration, everyone splits a real donation between the causes pitched. If your cause turns out to be hard to measure, that’s worth presenting too. For ideas, look at past Non-Trivial winners.

Syllabus

You can check off readings as you go (this only saves in your browser). If you did the summer fellowship, each week has a different reading for you.

We don’t cover climate, nuclear security or wild animal welfare in the sessions, but your facilitator can send you readings on any of them.

After the fellowship

Book a 1-on-1 A half-hour chat with a facilitator or organizer about what to do next Stay in the club Discussion groups, socials, or helping facilitate next semester Help table Sign up for a shift at our table Pitch a talk Suggest a topic you’d like to present Cornell AI Alignment A related club on campus Cornell Alt Protein Project A related club on campus Cornell Animal Advocacy A related club on campus In-Depth Program A longer follow-up course run by CEA BlueDot Impact Free courses on AI safety and governance 80,000 Hours Career advice and a job board Probably Good Career advice for a wider range of paths Giving What We Can Try a giving pledge, or join a holiday fundraiser Effective Thesis Help picking a thesis topic later on

First-years: pick a spring course that connects to your interest, and think about a Cornell EA leadership role or a summer research assistantship.

Adapted from CEA’s Introductory Program and EA at Georgia Tech’s Intro Seminar.