Philosophy Politics & EconomicsPPE is an interdisciplinary major that aims teach its majors how to think and work interdisciplinarily. In the introductory coursework (the Common Foundations), we demonstrate and model interdisciplinarity by asking students to take courses from our core departments - PHIL, ECON, PSCI, and PSYC - which feature a lot of overlap in content, but a wide variety of approaches in how to ask questions, gather and analyze evidence, and present conclusions. The concentration is your opportunity, via your upper level coursework, to show us what you've learned.
The concentration should form in response to a question. Choice & Behavior Student X may ask, "How does social media advertising affect the social behavior of teenage girls?" To understand and begin to understand that question, Student X ultimately takes courses in PSYC, COMM, MKTG, and GSWS. When they ultimately present their petition for their courses, they articulate that interest - the question above - and then explain to us how the coursework they took, diverse in methods and evidence, helped them have a more fulsome understanding of the issues and begin to answer the question, while developing further questions about the topic "for future research."
Students design a thematic concentration composed of challenging classes, allowing them to think deeply about interdisciplinary topics, building on the knowledge acquired in the Foundational and Core parts of the major. This affords the opportunity to create an area of interdisciplinary depth of focus within the major. We encourage student to pursue research in their theme – both through advanced research seminars and independent studies – which ideally bring different disciplines together.
PPE Thematic Concentrations
Guidelines for Developing your Theme
- The theme provides a focus or concentration to your major. Your five theme classes must create a cohesive story and will need to be approved by the PPE Associate Director. Submit your request using the the thematic concentration course proposal form.
- Students are encouraged to use the PPE concentration attribute appropriate to their concentration to search for appropriate courses in Path@Penn.
- Theme courses are your advanced courses in the major. Consult with the PPE Associate Director if you think a lower level course is appropriate for the development of your theme.
- Theme classes must come from more than one discipline, typically from disciplines like economics, political science, psychology, and philosophy, but also any other social science, such as anthropology, sociology, and history.
- You are encouraged to look for classes outside of the sample course list in order to tailor your theme to your specific interests. Some departments we recommend looking for courses in are: ANTH, BIBB, COMM, ECON, HIST, HSSC, MKTG, PSCI, PSYC, and SOCI.
- As of the 2023-2024 academic year, PPE no longer accepts 1000-level Wharton classes in any concentration. For information, please contact the Associate Director.
- No more than two non-College courses can be used in the major. Consult with the Associate Director if you have any questions about whether a course counts as non-College.