The Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law (PPEL) Undergraduate Summer School was created, developed, and organized by Mary L. Rigdon (PI) and Saura Masconale (co-PI) as a collaboration with the University of Arizona's Center for the Philosophy of Freedom and the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science, University of San Diego's Center for Ethics, Economics and Public Policy, and Chapman University's Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy. The four-day summer school features foundational and topical interdisciplinary courses taught by top-tier faculty. The focus of the curriculum will be on practical problems of organizing and running human society.
The impact will be the dissemination of knowledge in PPEL that goes beyond what is taught in the typical classroom, and will include interdisciplinary approaches, bringing theoretical, philosophical, and experimental methodologies together. Courses will be taught with faculty from different disciplines and representing different methodologies. We will attract talented undergraduates pursuing a degree in PPEL and related fields. Currently there is not a PPEL summer school in our geographic area of the Southwest so the benefits will be significant. The small size of the program also facilitates opportunities for students to get to know the faculty and other students interested in similar problems, allowing us to build a network of faculty and interested students who will interact beyond the summer school.
The Summer School will extend the reach of classic liberal ideas among undergraduate students by expanding students' opportunities to access the PPEL curriculum. It will also generate enthusiasm and interest for PPEL research and begin forming a new generation of PPEL scholars.
