Northwestern University Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Speaker Series 2014

The integrative study of philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) makes possible deeper understanding of human action and social phenomena. Understanding human social systems (both designed and emergent), as complex systems, requires development and application of different analytical frameworks and disciplinary perspectives. By providing an interdisciplinary framework for synthesizing thinking about abstract theories from the three fields with analyses of real-world phenomena and institutions, PPE provides such an integrated, interdisciplinary framework. As a way of exploring the extent of faculty and student interest in a PPE community at Northwestern, I propose to offer a speaker series on campus this spring. This series would comprise three speakers, one from each of the three core disciplines in the PPE framework. The seminars would be aimed at an audience of faculty, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates, with the aim of discovering who on campus is interested in PPE research and PPE questions and how many members of our campus community are interested in PPE. The interactions made possible through this speaker series would serve as a focal point for discussing the potential value to Northwestern undergraduates of a PPE program, what kind of faculty and administrative support such a program would have, and what gaps exist in our current curriculum and our faculty capabilities to teach courses relevant in such a program.