For the John Templeton Foundation, I wrote about modernizing the philosophical and economic discourse for today’s students.
Game theory, justice, equality, market failure, and public choice will be among the topics explored in a new series of videos and allied content for undergraduates in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) programs at universities worldwide. The curriculum is being produced as part of a two-year project, led by Jonathan Fortier of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University and co-funded with a $217,400 grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
The first PPE program was pioneered at Oxford University in the 1920s as an alternative to the university’s classics-heavy standard humanities curriculum. Since then, PPE graduates from have gone on to become political and intellectual leaders in England and beyond. Students and alumni of PPE programs have included Christopher Hitchens, David Cameron, Benazir Bhutto, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Malala Yosufanzi. PPE curriculums are currently offered at 100 English-language universities worldwide, including 50 in the United States. Despite its reputation and spread, though, PPE instructors at an undergraduate level have noted a gap in good curricular resources on the topics covered.