In the PPEL Summer School’s Third Year, Freedom Center hosts 51 students
In June the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom brought together 51 outstanding students from 30 universities for the Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law (PPEL) Undergraduate Summer School for an unforgettable four-day academic experience at the University of San Diego. With the generous support of the Templeton Foundation, the program explored both foundational and timely questions about society, exchange, and governance—giving students the chance to engage with world-class faculty and each other in a rigorous, collaborative setting. Students established connections with their cohort that will serve them well as they continue to pursue their education and research interests.
“The PPEL Summer School in San Diego is one of the Freedom Center’s Flagship programs, and includes the essential support of the Templeton Foundation, the University of San Diego, and Chapman University. We are honored to bring this inspiring program to the country’s undergraduate academics exploring interdisciplinary topics crossing philosophy, politics, economics and law. And we cannot wait to see what these evolving young change-makers continue to do as they take major steps in their educations and careers.”
— Mary Rigdon, Freedom Center Director
A special thank you to Dr. Mary Rigdon, Director of the Freedom Center and Associate Professor of Political Economy and Moral Science, for overseeing this summer’s gathering. We’re also grateful for the tireless behind-the-scenes support of Dr. Liz Levinson, Vanessa Woosely, Lindsay Wagner, Amee Hennig, and all the Freedom Center faculty & staff who made essential contributions to the success of this program.
We were honored to welcome an outstanding group of scholars who brought thought-provoking insights to the daily workshops and offered guidance to the participating students for the BIG Question Projects. Our keynote speaker, Cara Nine (The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill), opened the program with a powerful talk on International Jurisdictions, Water, and the Internet. Additional faculty presenters included Nigel Ashford (Institute for Humane Studies), Suzi Dovi (University of Arizona), Kobi Finestone (University of San Diego), Thony Gillies (University of Arizona), Maria Porter (University of Arizona), Mike Rappaport (University of San Diego), Vlad Tarko (University of Arizona), Steve Wall (University of Arizona), Bart Wilson (Chapman University), and Matt Zwolinski (University of San Diego), whose sessions ranged across pressing topics like representation, economic justice, legal interpretation, and the future of work-styles.
To all the participants—thank you for bringing your curiosity, energy, and insight. On the final day of the PPEL Summer School students presented their BIG Question Projects, that they had been researching and ideating throughout the week. Students asked questions ranging from “How will evolving American labor aesthetics redefine the value of work?” to “How is it that distrust and isolation are growing in an increasingly data-rich and connected society?” Students were judged on their projects and presentations and three teams were selected for prizes! Third Place was awarded to Team In-N-Out for the question, “How can privatized prisons be justified as a form of punishment?” Second Place was awarded to Federally Deserved for the question “How should we determine which illicit markets should we legalize?” and First Place was awarded to The Chosen Ones who asked, “Should parents have genetic sovereignty over their unborn children”
Congratulations to all the teams and students who found the week to be both academically challenging and enlightening!
We can’t wait to see how you shape the future of PPEL! And we’re thrilled this program will begin accepting applications for next summer’s cohort after the start of 2026. Keep a close eye on our website for those details!
