Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) Major

Major Requirements

The major requires a minimum of 9 courses, together with several prerequisites, distributed as follows:

1. Prerequisites (3 courses)

The prerequisites for the program should normally be completed by the end of the fall semester of the sophomore year. One prerequisite is required for each field of the program:

Economics

ECON050 CM - Principles of Economic Analysis

Government

GOVT020 CM - Introduction to American Politics
Students may request the Chair of the PPE program to substitute GOVT 060 CM , GOVT 070 CM , or an equivalent course for GOVT 020 CM .

Philosophy

Any CMC introductory philosophy course numbered 030 through 039.

2. CMC Seminars and Tutorials (6 courses)

These courses are only open to students accepted to the PPE program.

3. Electives (3 courses)

Majors are required to complete a minimum of 3 elective courses in at least 2 of the 3 constituent disciplines. One of the elective courses must be ECON101 CM - Intermediate Microeconomics . This course must be completed before students enroll in PPE 110A CM /PPE 110B CM .

Normally students are required to take their elective courses in PPE at CMC. Students who wish to complete one or more of their PPE electives at one of the other undergraduate Claremont Colleges or through off-campus study must petition the PPE program director for approval.

Senior Thesis in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

The senior thesis is a general education requirement and should serve as a capstone experience to a student’s undergraduate education. Students must complete a senior thesis in at least one of their majors under supervision of a faculty reader who teaches within that major, unless granted a special exception.

Students interested in doing a 2-semester thesis project complete a half (0.5) credit or full (1.0) credit thesis research course in the first semester and the senior thesis in the second semester. The senior thesis and the thesis research course may not be counted as courses in the major.

Special Options for Majors

Dual Major

Students may choose to satisfy the requirements of another major for a dual or double major including PPE.

The dual major in PPE requires 7 courses, distributed as follows:

1. Prerequisites (3 courses)

The prerequisites for the program should normally be completed by the end of the fall semester of the sophomore year.

Economics

ECON050 CM - Principles of Economic Analysis

Government

GOVT020 CM - Introduction to American Politics
Students may request the Chair of the PPE program to substitute GOVT 060 CM , GOVT 070 CM , or an equivalent course for GOVT 020 CM .

Philosophy

Any CMC introductory philosophy course numbered 030 through 039.

2. CMC Seminars and Tutorials (6 courses)

These courses are only open to students accepted to the PPE program.

3. Elective (1 course)

Dual majors must take ECON101 CM - Intermediate Microeconomics . This course must be completed before students enroll in PPE 110A CM /PPE 110B CM .

Notes:

Dual majors are encouraged to take additional electives in the other disciplines of the major and to write their senior thesis on a topic significant to their PPE major. For further information, see Senior Thesis in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics above.

Honors in PPE

To be eligible for honors in the major, PPE students must have a GPA of A- (11.00) or better for courses in the major.

General Education Requirements for PPE Majors

Students with interdisciplinary majors requiring courses in the humanities and/or social sciences are required to take designated courses in 6 different fields of the humanities and social sciences for the general education requirements.

PPE majors must take courses in at least 3 of the 4 fields of the social sciences (economics, government, history, and psychology) and in 2 or 3 of the 4 fields of the humanities (literature, philosophy, religious studies, and literature in a foreign language), for a total of 6 courses. These courses must include ECON 050 CM , GOVT 020 CM , and PHIL 030 CM , PHIL 033 CM , or PHIL 034 CM . Students with a dual or double major in PPE and another field in the social sciences or humanities will usually be required to take an additional course. For further information, see General Education Requirements .

Learning Goals and Student Learning Outcomes of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program

Learning Goals

After an education in PPE, students should have learned to:

Develop the basic analytic and quantitative skills appropriate to each of the constituent disciplines.
Engage with theoretical problems in each of the constituent disciplines.
Apply the distinct disciplinary approaches to practical questions and problems.
Write prose that is both effective and engaging.
Engage effectively in oral discussion and debate, drawing upon resources from each of the constituent disciplines.

Student Learning Outcomes

The PPE Program gauges progress toward these goals by examining the following learning outcomes:

Competence with the relevant analytic and quantitative skills.
1. Students will be able to formulate valid and well supported arguments in support of their positions.
2. Students will demonstrate competence in the application of standard economic models.
3. Students will demonstrate the ability to collect and marshall empirical data in economics and government.
Engagement with theoretical problems in each of the constituent disciplines.
1. Students will be able to extract theoretical positions from texts.
2. Students will appreciate criticisms of theoretical positions.
3. Students will be able to offer their own views on such theoretical problems and offer reasons and/or data in their support.
Application of distinct disciplinary approaches to practical questions and problems.
1. Students will draw upon the resources of each constituent discipline to understand practical problems and the complexities surrounding them.
2. Students will understand alternative solutions to such problems.
3. Students will develop their own solutions to practical problems and demonstrate the ability to offer reasons and/or data to support their solutions.
Write prose that is both effective and engaging.
1. Students will be able to present a written defense of a position, drawing upon resources in economics, government, and philosophy where appropriate.
2. Students will be able to present in writing the positions, arguments, and data of others in a manner that is both rigorous and unbiased.
Engage effectively in oral discussion and debate.
1. Students will be able to present an oral defense of a position that is both rigorous and effective.
2. Students will be able to engage critically through debate and discussion with a position presented by another.
3. Students will be able to draw upon relevant resources from all of the constituent disciplines in oral debate and discussion with others.

Progress towards these goals will be gauged, at least initially, by student performance on an appropriately designed senior comprehensive exam and by self-assessments carried out by PPE students during their senior year.