A powerful, interdisciplinary lens to view problems

Michael Moehler circled a seminar room in Holden Hall asking the students in his Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) Gateway course for their thoughts on how best to resolve collective action problems in our complex, interconnected social world.

To put together their answers, the students drew from disciplines that span the liberal arts and social sciences. Philosophy, political science, and economics are fields that all inform debates of the utmost global importance, yet they have only recently been combined into an interdisciplinary field of growing prominence in U.S. higher education.

Fueled by the support of alumnus David H. Kellogg ’82, who recently made a $16 million gift commitment to endow the David H. Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Virginia Tech has become a national leader in the field, with sizable growth in the number of students who have majored or minored in what is widely known as PPE.

“I'm excited to support this academic opportunity for Virginia Tech's students and scholars and look forward to seeing their impactful work,” Kellogg has said.

Along with coordinating the PPE major and minor, the Kellogg Center, which Moehler directs, runs a highly attended public lecture series and supports research by faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.

Alex Ellison was unaware of the field of PPE until he saw it in a Virginia Tech brochure.

“Philosophy, politics, and economics — I had never seen those subjects all together,” said Ellison, a sophomore majoring in the field, who aspires to go on to law school and, perhaps, politics. “They are all my main interests, and I feel that they can all be applied to so many fields. I knew this was what I wanted to do. It demands writing and arguing skills, definitely tests you, and makes you challenge the way you think. I’ve appreciated that.”

PPE students say the subject provides skills they can apply across many types of careers. Jack Quinn, a junior, doubled majored in PPE and clinical neuroscience.

“I wanted to major in PPE because I find the topics fascinating and think it’s applicable to any career and anything you do in life,” said Quinn. “I’m trying to go to medical school. I think a lot of things that I’ve learned in my PPE class would be useful over the course of my career, like making policy or leadership decisions. PPE helps me think about the world from a resource allocation standpoint.”

Quinn added: “I feel that our society would greatly benefit if every student could take this course. If more people were fluent in the foundational ideas that underpin our society and institutions, we would be better equipped to improve them.”

Holyn Macleod, a junior majoring in computational neuroscience, plans to add a PPE minor to her coursework.

“I’ve been interning in cybersecurity, which is super interesting to me, and I hope to get into cybersecurity policy,” said Macleod. “I like all three subjects in PPE, and also think it’s very relevant to people going into policy. Something I love about interdisciplinary areas is that you can apply what you learn no matter what you end up doing. It’s just a good knowledge base to have.”

To support interdisciplinary research and teaching, the center hired five permanent core faculty members with specific expertise in PPE. The center’s faculty members contribute valuable expertise from across the globe. In addition to organizing cutting-edge research events at Virginia Tech, the center’s faculty, affiliates, and fellows regularly publish in well-respected academic journals and present their work at professional conferences worldwide.

Moehler, who also serves as a professor of PPE, said the center’s faculty translate their knowledge to teach proven techniques from multiple fields that allow students to identify and analyze existing, emerging, and potential future problems.

“The center trains students to develop solutions that are not only economically sound, but also ethically defensible and politically feasible,” Moehler said. “Virginia Tech’s PPE environment is unique. It offers not only two undergraduate degree programs but, to my knowledge, it is the only top engineering school that includes engineering courses in its PPE curriculum, for students who seek this path.”

Moehler said that Kellogg’s generous support has broadened the scope of Virginia Tech’s research, teaching, and public outreach in PPE, empowering the university to be a nationwide leader in the field.

“Intellectually, Mr. Kellogg already grasped the subject-matter connections that PPE fosters during his time as a student at Virginia Tech, more than 40 years ago,” Moehler said. “Today, we cannot thank him enough for helping the university to build on these connections for the benefit of current and future students.”