Why PPE?

Our world is shaped by institutions and organizations that have a profound impact on our lives. Understanding how they work, appreciating their interactions, seeing their impact, and being able to assess their value is crucial.

The PPE Program’s mission is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of social, economic, political and moral problems. In doing this, PPE follows in the tradition of great thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Thomas Malthus, John Stuart Mill, and David Ricardo. With this in mind, PPE students cross the borders of key academic disciplines, integrating the methods, tools, and insights into philosophy, politics, and economics.

UNC is one of the premier undergrad programs in each of the three areas and home to one of the largest PPE programs in the country. Throughout the year, the PPE Program hosts numerous events including speakers, colloquiums, seminars, working groups, and reading groups to help provide students the necessary background to succeed in the real world.

You can listen to our Director Geoff Sayre-McCord discuss the program on the radio program 97.9 The Hill.

Careers

Thanks to its stress on the development of transferable skills and its mixture of qualitative and quantitative analysis, the PPE Program prepares students well for a great variety of careers in different fields. Possible career paths include:

Private sector: management, consulting, business administration, law, journalism, finance, etc.
Public sector and NGOs: government, public administration, political parties, public policy, health care, non-profit organizations, foundations, unions, etc.
Academia: excellent preparation for law school, medical school, business school, and Masters and Ph.D. programs in the disciplines of philosophy, politics, and economics, as well as all other social sciences that demand rigorous analytical skills.

The PPE Program helps connect our students to relevant internship, fellowship, and career opportunities. Additionally, University Career Services offers a broad range of support for Carolina students looking into various careers as well as graduate programs.

Why Minor in PPE?

The PPE minor allows student the ability to gain a background in three distinct areas of study while allowing students to focus in a particular area of study, their major. For this reason, have a reputation as one of the most flexible and rewarding programs at UNC. Our graduates have gone onto medical school, law school, diverse industries, and Ph.D. Programs in numerous areas. Still not convinced? Jonathan Anomaly blogs about the numerous benefits of PPE here.

Ready to Declare?

To declare the PPE Minor, please make a virtual appointment with your academic advisor, details here. The process will not take more than 10-15 minutes! For general questions and advice, feel free to email ppeprogram@unc.edu or stop by our administrative office in 112B.

Welcome to PPE!

Related Programs

Business Administration

The BS in Business Administration is offered to undergraduates and is a program of study that provides students with a thorough grounding in all areas of business and a broad introduction to the liberal arts. The Kenan–Flagler undergraduate experience is distinctive because the school offers a global perspective relevant to the needs of business today. Students develop critical analytical skills and engage world-renowned faculty and international business leaders. They benefit from expert coaches who’ll guide them in developing collaborative leadership skills for building and working on teams, managing projects and inspiring others to follow. The business administration program is considered a broad-based, general management degree, and the Kenan–Flagler Business School encourages breadth in both the business curriculum and in the continuation of study in fine arts, humanities, and natural and social sciences.

Economics

Economics is commonly defined as the study of how society allocates scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. Majoring in Economics comprises a large area of inquiry into the problems and structure of the economic segment of society. The curriculum provides the opportunity to achieve one or more of the following objectives: general education for intelligent citizenship with special emphasis on understanding the principles and problems of modern economic life, preparation for private employment, preparation for government employment, preparation for graduate programs in economics, business administration, international studies, law, health and hospital administration, city planning, public policy, and other fields.

Environment and Ecology

The Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology is a multidisciplinary degree program that seeks to foster an understanding and appreciation of ecological systems and future environmental problems. The BA in Environmental Studies is offered to undergraduates. It is appropriate for students wanting rigorous preparation in the methods of the social sciences and humanities needed to understand how society affects the environment, how it organizes itself to respond to environmental problems and how understanding of the environment is created and transmitted through culture. The degree focuses on the social, political, economic and cultural forces that guide society’s role in both causing and solving environmental problems, and on the role of society in perturbing environmental systems.

Global Studies

The Curriculum in Global Studies offers undergraduates the opportunity to develop an appreciation for and fuller understanding of the global issues within the context of a diverse, flexible, interdisciplinary curriculum. Courses deal with topics as diverse as the global impact of nineteenth century European colonialism, globalization and economic change, migration and diasporas, environment and human rights, global health and human reproduction, global and local social movements, and technology and patterns of cultural transmission. Such an integrated learning environment includes courses in modern foreign languages, enabling the student to develop the ability to interact and learn in a foreign environment. Courses in a thematic concentration allowing the student a framework for developing critical questioning and reasoning skills, and courses with a regional focus, encouraging students to develop a fuller awareness of the ways in which global forces shape and transform regional political, economic and cultural change.

Journalism and Media

In the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, students learn the skills they need to succeed in the new media environment, whether they pursue careers in journalism, advertising, public relations or other communications fields. The journalism curriculum is for students who want to broadcast, report, write, photograph, and present news and information to better inform society. These students learn techniques and theories to conceptualize information within the context of an independent press designed to create an informed public able to govern itself.

Peace, War, and Defense

The Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense provides undergraduates with a range of approaches to the fundamental issues of human conflict and national and global security and defense. The curriculum prepares majors for graduate work in several of the humanities and social sciences, for a variety of professional schools, and for a range of employment. The strength of the curriculum is its broad interdisciplinary perspective combined with its depth of focus on topics that span the range of human experience across time and national boundaries, from science and technology to ethics and public policy.

Political Science

The Department of Political Science is concerned with the description and explanation of political ideas, institutions, processes, policies, and behavior, both in the United States and in other countries. The undergraduate program provides students with a basic knowledge of the political and economic relationships that exist among nations, international agencies, and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. It also introduces students to the role that traditions of thought and political ideologies have played in shaping our understanding of politics in the past and today. The undergraduate major is designed to provide a broad understanding of political ideas, institutions, and issues as a central element of a general education, a basic knowledge of the governmental process as preparation for those considering a career in public service as well as for active and informed citizenship, preprofessional training for students planning to enter law school, and a foundation in political science for those contemplating specialization at the graduate level.

Public Policy

Public Policy is an interdisciplinary social science major designed to provide students with the theoretical perspective, analytical skill and substantive knowledge needed to respond to major domestic and global policy problems. A major in Public Policy is often combined with another major, or a minor, in a related area or professional school, for instance, Business Administration, Economics, Education, Environment and Ecology, Global Studies, Journalism and Media, Peace, War, and Defense, Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Political Science, or Social and Economic Justice.

Social and Economic Justice

The Department of Sociology is the primary home for two majors—sociology and management and society—and a minor in social and economic justice. The major in sociology is a liberal arts major, designed to offer its students a broad education in critical thinking, analytical problem solving, reasoned judgment, and effective communication. Only a few majors go on to become professional sociologists with Ph.D.s in the field. What matters as much about a sociology major as what you can do with it, is what it can do to students: It can help you to become a well-rounded person, equipped with the versatile skills and abilities of a liberal arts education, well prepared to negotiate the complexities of contemporary societies in order to pursue a thoughtful, purposeful life and a variety of vocational callings and careers.

The undergraduate sociology program is structured to provide students with opportunities to put sociological ideas into practice through research by means of independent studies, theses, and internships. The department also urges students to put their training to practical use by serving others. Most broadly, the sociology major offers strong preparation in analytical skills and broad knowledge of human relations and social systems, providing many useful tools for the development of a variety of careers.