Effective Altruism & The Arete Fellowship

Effective Altruism is a social movement and philosophy founded by Peter Singer. It is guided by utilitarian/consequentialist ethics and supports evidence-based giving. The movement provides a community and platform for people to donate their resources (e.g. time or money) efficiently to create the greatest good possible. EA has a growing population and helps people to consider how best they can benefit the world, whether it be through a career (as advised by 80,000 hours), or earning to give (as endorsed by Giving What We Can). Particular causes supported include global poverty, animal welfare, and existential risk.

I ran the Arete Fellowship for students at Minerva to help grow the movement within my community and attended the EAGxBoston conference (left) to meet like-minded people.

The Arete Fellowship (see Duke and Harvard) is a 9-week introductory course on Effective Altruism. I took the curriculum from both schools and merged them to facilitate the course for 12+ Minerva students.

In the final week, students presented independent research projects on topics such as free will, randomised controlled trials, corporate social responsibility, AI safety, and animal welfare.