Major

This course introduces students to the major problems, aims, and methods of PPE through a combination of contemporary and historical readings and guest lectures by scholars from several disciplines. Recurring topics include game theory, the moral limits of markets, racism, distributive justice, and justifications and critiques of property rights, among others. Upon completing the course, students will be prepared to explore the whole breadth of PPE, and they will have taken an important first step towards achieving the interdisciplinary competence necessary to successfully complete a PPE thesis or capstone.

This course examines the changing role of gender in the labor market and the household. Topics to be studied include: the rise in females' formal labor force participation during the second half of the twentieth century; gender differences in employment, occupation, and earnings; theoretical and empirical approaches to studying discrimination; and the interactions between market opportunities, government policies, and family formation (including fertility, marriage, divorce, and cohabitation).

This course offers a historical overview of Southern Cone nations Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay and then moves to in-depth study of political and economic institutions. Themes include bureaucratic authoritarianism, economic shocks, military rule and the return to democracy, regional integration, and globalization.