Risk Communication and Management:
Lectures in Finland
The purpose of this page is to introduce myself in advance, and to help you get an early start on the course.
Perhaps you've already heard about some American professor who will be visiting Finland in October and giving some lectures. Any of the good things you may have heard about me must, of course, be absolutely true. Anything negative is quite obviously a case of mistaken identity...
If you'd like to know more than that, you can review my C.V. by clicking here. Better yet, if you have any questions about the course, send me some email.
I'll be quite honest: the delivery of a web-based course is a big experiment for me. Of course, many experiments can turn into disasters (if that happens, I'll just claim it was another case of mistaken identity). But fear not, because I do have backup plans. Even if the web falls apart, I am more than prepared to give the requisite 10 hours of lecture. We have the classroom hours reserved, and I am in the hands of some extremely capable organizers in Finland. I've delivered these lectures before with some success, and I can always do it again if needed.
On the other hand…. my friends, if this experiment works, it could be the start of a wonderful new era. We could spend more time discussing and less time in lectures. We could address the toughest questions right away, because the introductory material was covered over the web. We could use the web to learn about each other before, during, and after my lectures in Finland. And maybe, just maybe, this could become a model for other courses. Of course, there's nothing new about web-based courses. But it's new for me, perhaps it's new to some of you, and I look forward to the possibilities.
The lectures are taken from part of a web page and textbook I'm writing on risk analysis. Most of this textbook is already online. Click here if you wish to review my entire web page, but remember that my lectures in Finland will be only part of the textbook. Incidentally, I invite your suggestions and constructive criticism, especially since it is all still considered in draft form. The Finland lectures are listed below. Each section is roughly equivalent to about 50 minutes of lecture. If you click on any of the three titles on the top, you can go directly to the sections.
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1. biases and heuristics |
4. source issues |
7. risk attitudes |
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2. outrage factors |
5. message and channel issues |
8. ethical and economic models |
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3. risk comparisons |
6. receiver issues |
9. legal models |
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The course has the following assignments:
1. Answer all the questions on Quizmaster (chapters 7-9 only) -- not just "true or false" but with a brief written explanation of why, turned in before the end of this month. You can do this by email (to either me or Aija Kettunen, or both), fax, simple handwriting on paper, or whatever reasonable method is most convenient for you. The main objective is for you to study these materials, especially at the same time that you are sending hypernews messages
2. Submit two questions on Hypernews for chapters 7-9 (a total of 6 questions -- two for each chapter). The first question for each chapter is simply a question you have about the material. I will review these and post answers to your questions (or, if time is limited, I may simply discuss the answers in class). The second question for each chapter is one in which YOU provide both the question and the answer. We will use all the Hypernews materials for discussion in class.
3. Write a 3 page analysis of a risk communication or risk management problem of your choice, and use as many of the concepts presented in this course as possible. Alternatively, you may answer all the questions at the beginning of one (or more) of the Case Studies (cases 1-3). In either case, it is a written assignment to be turned in before the end of the month.