Thematic Concentration
Our students have the opportunity to frame their own thematic program to pursue interdisciplinary interests.
There are currently four broad themes, and most interdisciplinary interests can be accommodated in one of them. The themes are choice and behavior, ethics and the professions, distributive justice, and Globalization. Students choose to specialize in a theme in close coordination with the Associate Director and, whenever possible, a faculty advisor. The primary qualities we look for are evidence of interest, intellectual curiosity, and academic potential. Students will have broad flexibility in choosing their own sets of classes while fulfilling the thematic concentration requirements.
Examples of Thematic concentrations
1. Distributive Justice Theme
| Sample coursework for student Interested in Social Welfare and Distributive Justice | ||||
| Class | Title | Status in Major | ||
| Phil 2 | Ethics | Foundation | ||
| Phil 8 | Social Contract | Foundation | ||
| Econ 1 | Intro Micro | Foundation | ||
| Econ 2 | Intro Macro | Foundation | ||
| PSCI 181 | Modern Political Theory | Foundation | ||
| PSCI 234 | Civil Rights and Civil Liberties | Foundation | ||
| Psyc 153 | Judgments and Decision | Foundation | ||
| PPE 238 | Public Policy | Core | ||
| PPE 213 | Strategic Reasoning | Core | ||
| PPE 228 | Philosophy of Social Science | Core | ||
| PPE 260 | Behavioral Psychology and Economics | Core | ||
| PSCI 271 | Constitutional Law | Theme Elective | ||
| Phil 376 | Justice | Theme Elective | ||
| PPE 271 | Global justice | Theme Elective | ||
| Econ 30 | Public Economics | Theme Elective | ||
| PPE 475 | Equality and Distributive Justice | Capstone | ||
2. Choice and Behavior Theme
| Sample coursework for student interested in Choice and Behavior | ||
| Class | Title | Status in Major |
| Phil 5 | Intro. To Logic | Foundation |
| Phil 8 | Social Contract | Foundation |
| Econ 1 | Intro Micro | Foundation |
| Econ 2 | Intro Macro | Foundation |
| PSCI 182 | Contemporary Political Theory | Foundation |
| PSCI 110 | Comparative Politics | Foundation |
| Psyc 153 | Judgments and Decision | Foundation |
| PPE 238 | Public Policy | Core |
| PPE 213 | Strategic Reasoning | Core |
| PPE 228 | Philosophy of Social Science | Core |
| PPE 260 | Behavioral Psychology and Economics | Core |
| PPE 320 | Agent Based Modeling in Social Sciences | Theme Elective |
| PSCI 475 | Social Choice and Democratic theory | Theme Elective |
| Psyc 474 | Cooperation in groups | Theme Elective |
| PPE 253 | Behavioral Law and Economics | Theme Elective |
| PSCI 475 | Evolution, Politics and Computer Simulation | Capstone |
3. Ethics and the Professions Theme
| Sample coursework for a student interested in health care policy | ||||
| Class | Title | Status in Major | ||
| Phil 2 | Ethics | Foundation | ||
| Phil 8 | Social Contract | Foundation | ||
| Econ 1 | Intro Micro | Foundation | ||
| Econ 2 | Intro Macro | Foundation | ||
| PSCI 182 | Contemporary Political Theory | Foundation | ||
| PSCI 234 | Civil Rights and Civil Liberties | Foundation | ||
| Psyc 153 | Judgments and Decision | Foundation | ||
| PPE 238 | Public Policy | Core | ||
| PPE 213 | Strategic Reasoning | Core | ||
| PPE 228 | Philosophy of Social Science | Core | ||
| PPE 260 | Behavioral Psychology and Economics | Core | ||
| Phil 72 | Medical Ethics | Theme Elective | ||
| Econ 39 | Economics and financing of health | Theme Elective | ||
| HSOC 273 | Law, Medicine and Public Policy | Theme Elective | ||
| SOC 126 | Health and Social Policy | Theme Elective | ||
| PPE 475 | Behavioral Ethics and Public policy | Capstone | ||
4. Globalization Theme
| Sample coursework for a student interested in economic development | ||||
| Class | Title | Status in Major | ||
| Phil 2 | Ethics | Foundation | ||
| Phil 8 | Social Contract | Foundation | ||
| Econ 1 | Intro Micro | Foundation | ||
| Econ 2 | Intro Macro | Foundation | ||
| PSCI 182 | Contemporary Political Theory | Foundation | ||
| PSCI 150 | International Relations in Theory and Practice | Foundation | ||
| Psyc 153 | Judgments and Decision | Foundation | ||
| PPE 238 | Public Policy | Core | ||
| PPE 213 | Strategic Reasoning | Core | ||
| PPE 228 | Philosophy of Social Science | Core | ||
| PPE 260 | Behavioral Psychology and Economics | Core | ||
| PSCI 116 | Political Change in the Third World | Theme Elective | ||
| Econ 24 | Development Economics | Theme Elective | ||
| PSCI 314 | Transitions to Democracy | Theme Elective | ||
| PSCI 224 | Political Economy of Development | Theme Elective | ||
| PPE 475 | Behavioral Ethics and Public policy | Capstone | ||