Program Guidelines 

The PPE Program enables students to pursue a rigorous course of study that explores significant historical, methodological, and theoretical interconnections between philosophy, politics, and economics. It is designed to help students understand the theoretical and normative foundations of political and economic analysis.

The PPE Program is overseen by the PPE Committee, made up of one faculty member from each of the PPE departments. Each PPE major must choose a member of the PPE Committee to serve as their PPE Major Advisor. The PPE Committee (as a whole) must approve the individual Course of Study Proposal of each PPE student. Students who are interested in pursuing a major in PPE should contact a member of the PPE Committee shortly after they arrive on campus. 

Faculty

Committee

John McHugh (Director), Jessica Bean, Heather Pool 

Faculty

Philosophy

Chelsea Bowden, Sam Cowling, Barbara Fultner, Zachary Joachim, Jonathan Maskit, John McHugh, Mark Moller, Lindsey Schwartz 

Politics

Paul Djupe, Anthony Ives, Andrew Katz, Andrew McWard, Malliga Och, Heather Pool, Scott Smitson

Economics

Belinda Azenui, Jessica Bean, Ted Burczak, Pedro Cadenas, Quentin Duroy, Zarrina Juraqulova, Botir Okhunjanov, Hyun Woong Park, Katherine Snipes, Luis Villanueva, Adam Walke, Andrea Ziegert  

View faculty profiles and contact information

PPE Major

The course requirements for the PPE Program are divided into three sections:

1. Core Courses (13 courses)
2. Electives (5 courses)
3. Senior Research (one semester)

Core courses are chosen to provide students with a basic understanding in each of the three disciplines. Also included in the core is PPE 201, a course in which students independently design the final portion of their PPE studies by developing a topic of focus that unifies their five elective courses and senior research. Electives allow students to concentrate on a specific area or topic of interest, while the senior research project offers a capstone experience where students integrate work in the three disciplines. In effect, the PPE major is a double major distributed across three departments.

Core Courses

Course List

Code	Title
Philosophy (4 courses)
The following two Philosophy courses:
PHIL 121	Ethics: Philosophical Considerations of Morality
PHIL 126	Social and Political Philosophy
And any two of the following:
PHIL 250	Philosophy of Law
or PHIL 275	Philosophy of Feminism
or PHIL 294	Topics in Ethics
or PHIL 295	Topics in Social and Political Philosophy
or PHIL 321	Metaethics
or PHIL 326	Theories of Justice
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Politics (4 courses)
PPA 132	Introduction to Theorizing About Political Life: Normative Issues Common to Democratic Systems
Plus any one of the following two courses:
PPA 102	Introduction to Policymaking in Democracies
or PPA 122	Introduction to Global Governance
Plus any one of the following courses:
PPA 381	Ancient Political Theory
or PPA 382	Modern Political Theory
or PPA 383	Contemporary Political Theory
or PPA 385	American Political Thought
Plus one additional upper-division PPA course (300-level) that is not PPA 381, PPA 382, PPA 383, or American Political Thought.
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Economics (4 courses)
The following two Economics courses:
ECON 101	Introductory Macroeconomics
ECON 102	Introductory Microeconomics
And any two of the following:
ECON 201	Economic Justice
or ECON 401	History of Economic Thought I
or ECON 402	History of Economic Thought II
or ECON 466	Evolution of the Western Economy

PPE Course of Study Proposal

All PPE majors must satisfactorily complete PPE 201 - Course of Study Proposal, a half-credit, partial-semester course in spring of their sophomore year. In the course, students will complete a Course of Study Proposal (COSP), which is meant to outline a topic of focus within the PPE disciplines that will unify the student’s five major elective courses and senior research project into a coherent whole. In working on the COSP, students will learn how to identify a PPE topic of focus, brainstorm and workshop possibilities with their classmates, and reflect upon the relationship between their studies and their plans for life after Denison. Continuation in the PPE major requires a “Satisfactory” grade in the course.

Electives

A student must select five additional advanced courses (generally, 200-level or above) in at least two of the three departments. The courses which satisfy this requirement must be approved by the PPE Committee. Under special circumstances, and with the approval of the PPE Committee, a student may be permitted to fulfill up to two elective requirements with courses outside of the Philosophy, Politics and Public Affairs, and Economics departments. It is the responsibility of each student's PPE advisor and ultimately, the PPE Committee, to see that the student's course of study realizes the overall goals of the PPE Program.

Senior Research

In addition to completing the course sequence indicated above, each PPE student must complete at least one semester of senior research culminating in a senior research project linking the three areas.

Courses