Discover the philosophy, politics and economics curriculum
PPE at USD provides students with a range of knowledge, perspectives, methodologies, research opportunities and critical thinking skills that will equip them to holistically understand the world. Students explore debates over health care, environmental regulation and social welfare policy: which markets work or fail to work in certain contexts; the nature of fairness, liberty and equality; and the feasibility of various forms of regulatory control.
Students majoring in philosophy, political science, economics or business economics are encouraged to pursue the PPE minor. Non-majors are also welcome to minor in PPE, in a specially designed pathway.
18-19 units
Pathway 1
Students majoring in philosophy
18-19 units
Pathway 2
Students majoring in political science
18-19 units
Pathway 3
Students majoring in economics or business economics
21-22 units
Pathway 4
Students not majoring in philosophy, political science, economics or business economics
Minor
1st Pathway - Students majoring in Philosophy (18 units)
Foundational Courses (9 units) | ||
PPE 101 | Morality, Markets, and Government | 3 |
ECON 101 | Principles of Microeconomics | 3-4 |
POLS 150 | Introduction to Comparative Politics | 3 |
or POLS 100 | Power and Justice | |
or POLS 120 | Introduction to American Politics | |
or POLS 170 | Introduction to International Relations | |
PPE Capstone | ||
PPE 495 | PPE Capstone | 3 |
Elective Courses (6 upper-division units from the lists of Economics and Political Science electives provided below. At least 3 units must be from Political Science.) | 6 | |
Total Units | 18-19 | |
2nd Pathway - Students majoring in Political Science (18 units)
Foundational Courses (9 Units) | ||
PPE 101 | Morality, Markets, and Government | 3 |
ECON 101 | Principles of Microeconomics | 3-4 |
PHIL 116 | Morality and Justice | 3 |
or PHIL 110 | Introduction to Philosophy | |
or PHIL 111 | Philosophy of Human Nature | |
or PHIL 112 | Philosophy and Literature | |
or PHIL 114 | Philosophy and Technology | |
or PHIL 115 | Faith and Reason | |
or PHIL 118 | Philosophy Through Food | |
or PHIL 171 | Medieval Philosophy | |
PPE Capstone | ||
PPE 495 | PPE Capstone | 3 |
Elective Courses (6 upper-division units from the lists of Economics and Philosophy electives provided below. At least 3 units must be from Philosophy.) | 6 | |
Total Units | 18-19 | |
3rd Pathway - Students majoring in Economics or Business Economics (18 units)
Foundational Courses (9 Units) | ||
PPE 101 | Morality, Markets, and Government | 3 |
PHIL 116 | Morality and Justice | 3 |
or PHIL 110 | Introduction to Philosophy | |
or PHIL 111 | Philosophy of Human Nature | |
or PHIL 112 | Philosophy and Literature | |
or PHIL 114 | Philosophy and Technology | |
or PHIL 115 | Faith and Reason | |
or PHIL 118 | Philosophy Through Food | |
or PHIL 171 | Medieval Philosophy | |
POLS 150 | Introduction to Comparative Politics | 3 |
or POLS 100 | Power and Justice | |
or POLS 120 | Introduction to American Politics | |
or POLS 170 | Introduction to International Relations | |
PPE Capstone | ||
PPE 495 | PPE Capstone | 3 |
Elective Courses (3 upper-division units from Philosophy, and 3 upper-division units from Political Science, from the lists of electives provided below.) | 6 | |
Total Units | 18 | |
4th Pathway - Students not majoring in Philosophy, Political Science, Business Economics or Economics (21 units)
Foundational Courses (12 units) | ||
PPE 101 | Morality, Markets, and Government | 3 |
ECON 101 | Principles of Microeconomics | 3-4 |
PHIL 116 | Morality and Justice | 3 |
or PHIL 110 | Introduction to Philosophy | |
or PHIL 111 | Philosophy of Human Nature | |
or PHIL 112 | Philosophy and Literature | |
or PHIL 114 | Philosophy and Technology | |
or PHIL 115 | Faith and Reason | |
or PHIL 118 | Philosophy Through Food | |
or PHIL 171 | Medieval Philosophy | |
POLS 150 | Introduction to Comparative Politics | 3 |
or POLS 100 | Power and Justice | |
or POLS 120 | Introduction to American Politics | |
or POLS 170 | Introduction to International Relations | |
PPE Capstone | ||
PPE 495 | PPE Capstone | 3 |
Elective Courses (3 upper-division units from Philosophy, and 3 upper-division units from Political Science, from the lists of electives provided below.) | 6 | |
Total Units | 21-22 | |
PPE Elective Courses*
ECONOMICS | ||
ECON 302 | Public Finance | 3 |
ECON 304 | Urban Economics | 3 |
ECON 308 | Environmental and Natural Resource Economics | 3 |
ECON 309 | LGBTQ in Business and Economics | 3 |
ECON 310 | Money and Banking | 3 |
ECON 322 | Labor Economics | 3 |
ECON 327 | Law and Economics | 3 |
ECON 333 | International Economics | 3 |
ECON 335 | Economic Development of Latin America | 3 |
ECON 337 | Economic Development of Asia | 3 |
ECON 339 | Latin America Business Environment | 3 |
ECON 340 | Behavioral Economics | 3 |
ECON 353 | Sports Economics | 3 |
ECON 370 | Applied Econometrics | 3 |
ECON 375 | Game Theory | 3 |
ECON 376 | GIS Applications in Business | 3 |
ECON 381 | Predictive Analytics & Big Data | 3 |
ECON 390 | Business Analytics Strategy | 3 |
ECON 414 | Investment Economics | 3 |
ECON 424 | Industrial Organization | 3 |
ECON 471 | Business Cycles and Forecasting | 3 |
ECON 473 | Managerial Economics | 3 |
ECON 480 | Mathematical Economics | 3 |
ECON 494 | Special Topics in Economics | 1-4 |
PHILOSOPHY | ||
PHIL 321 | Social Ethics | 3-4 |
PHIL 330 | Ethics | 3 |
PHIL 331 | Biomedical Ethics | 3 |
PHIL 332 | Business Ethics | 3 |
PHIL 333 | Legal Ethics | 3 |
PHIL 337 | Mass Media Ethics | 3-4 |
PHIL 338 | Environmental Ethics | 3-4 |
PHIL 340 | Ethics of War and Peace | 3 |
PHIL 341 | Ethics and Education | 3 |
PHIL 342 | Engineering Ethics | 3 |
PHIL 343 | Gender and Economic Justice | 3 |
PHIL 344 | Environmental Justice | 3 |
PHIL 346 | Public Health Ethics | 3 |
PHIL 360 | Ethical Theory | 3 |
PHIL 405 | Games & Choices: The Tools of Philosophy, Politics, & Economics | 3 |
PHIL 420 | Philosophy of Race | 3 |
PHIL 423 | African American Philosophy | 3 |
PHIL 460 | Legal Reasoning | 3 |
PHIL 461 | Philosophy of Law | 3 |
PHIL 462 | Political Philosophy | 3 |
PHIL 483 | Philosophy of Social Sciences | 3 |
POLITICAL SCIENCE | ||
POLS 300 | Democratic Theory | 3 |
POLS 301 | Political Thought:Ancient to Modern | 3 |
POLS 302 | Political Thought:Modern and Contemporary | 3-4 |
POLS 303 | Liberal Political Thought | 3 |
POLS 304 | American Political Thought | 3 |
POLS 305 | Black Political Thought | 3 |
POLS 306 | Conservative Political Thought | 3 |
POLS 307 | Feminist Political Theories | 3 |
POLS 308 | Politics and Literature | 3 |
POLS 309 | Sex, Power, and Politics | 3 |
POLS 310 | The Presidency | 3 |
POLS 312 | Congress | 3 |
POLS 313 | Parties and Interest Groups | 3 |
POLS 314 | Campaigns and Elections | 3 |
POLS 316 | State and Local Government | 3 |
POLS 317 | Asian American Politics | 3 |
POLS 318 | Black Politics | 3 |
POLS 319 | Politics of Race and Ethnicity | 3 |
POLS 320 | War Powers in the American Constitutional System | 3 |
POLS 321 | Constitutional Law and American Government:Federalism and Separation of Powers | 3 |
POLS 322 | Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties | 3 |
POLS 323 | Judicial Behavior | 3 |
POLS 326 | Comparative Law | 3 |
POLS 327 | International Law | 3 |
POLS 329 | Law of the Sea | 3 |
POLS 330 | Thinking Like a Political Scientist | 3 |
POLS 340 | Public Administration | 3 |
POLS 342 | Public Policy | 3-4 |
POLS 343 | Education, Citizenship and Politics in South Africa | 3 |
POLS 344 | Politics of U.S. Citizenship and Migration | 3 |
POLS 346 | Food and Politics | 3 |
POLS 347 | Culture & Environmental Politics | 3 |
POLS 348 | Indigenous Peoples and the Environment | 3 |
POLS 349 | Politics and the Environment | 3 |
POLS 350 | Theories of Comparative Politics | 3 |
POLS 352 | Comparative Politics of Developing Countries | 3 |
POLS 353 | Politics and Religion | 3 |
POLS 355 | Politics in Europe | 3 |
POLS 357 | Politics in Latin America | 3 |
POLS 358 | Politics in South Asia | 3 |
POLS 359 | Politics in the Middle East | 3 |
POLS 360 | Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa | 3 |
POLS 361 | Politics in South Africa | 3 |
POLS 362 | Course POLS 362 Not Found | 3-4 |
POLS 363 | Politics in France | 3 |
POLS 365 | Politics in Russia | 3 |
POLS 366 | Politics in Mexico | 3 |
POLS 368 | Politics in China | 3 |
POLS 370 | Theories of International Relations | 3 |
POLS 371 | American Foreign Policy | 3-4 |
POLS 374 | U.S.-Latin American Relations | 3 |
POLS 376 | U.S. National Security | 3 |
POLS 377 | Regional Security | 3 |
POLS 378 | Transnational Crime and Terrorism | 3-4 |
POLS 379 | International Political Boundaries and Border Policies | 3 |
POLS 380 | Theories of International Political Economy | 3 |
POLS 381 | Migration & Immigration Politics and Policy | 3 |
POLS 382 | International Human Rights | 3 |
POLS 383 | International Organizations | 3 |
POLS 400 | Political Ideas & Ideologies | 1-3 |
*Additional courses may be accepted as PPE electives, with approval of the program director. Note: Some elective courses have individual prerequisites.