PPEL Summer School 2025
June 3rd-6th, 2025
The 2025 Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law (PPEL) Undergraduate Summer School, hosted at the University of San Diego with the support of the Templeton Foundation, welcomed 51 undergraduates from 30 different universities across the country for a four-day intensive program exploring foundational and contemporary questions about society, exchange, and governance.
The PPEL Summer School Program is thanks, in part, to the generous support by the John Templeton Foundation (Grant #62965).
Stay tuned for our next PPEL Summer School this coming Summer 2026 in San Diego!
Program Speakers & Highlights
Topics Addressed
- The challenges of governance in a globalized and digital world
- The role of emotion, identity, and values in democratic representation
- How economic institutions shape behavior, preferences, and policy
- Foundations of law, justice, and constitutional interpretation
- Ethical questions about markets, fairness, and the meaning of work and exchange
Students Explored
- Foundational and contemporary questions about society, exchange, and governance
- Intersections of philosophy, politics, economics, and law
- Real-world applications of justice, representation, and institutional design
- Applying to graduate school, life in grad school, and careers in academia and beyond
- Critical thinking through small-group seminars and faculty engagement
Program Highlights
- FREE Registration, Meals, and Housing
- Collaborative Learning Environment: Learn alongside peers from universities across the nation.
- Multi-Disciplinary Approach: Gain insights from faculty at:
- University of Arizona – Center for the Philosophy of Freedom & Department of Political Economy and Moral Science (PEMS)
- University of San Diego – Center for Ethics, Economics, & Public Policy
- Chapman University – Smith Institute for Political Economy & Philosophy
Featured Sessions
Plenary Lectures
-
Cara Nine (The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) – “International Jurisdictions, Water, and the Internet”
Faculty Sessions
- Nigel Ashford (Institute for Humane Studies) – “Scaling the Ivory Tower”
- Suzi Dovi (University of Arizona) – “Schadenfreude Representation”
- Kobi Finestone (University of San Diego) – “Central Bank Independence”
- Thony Gillies (University of Arizona) – “Originalism and Linguistic Content”
- Maria Porter (University of Arizona) – “Social Preferences”
- Mike Rappaport (University of San Diego) – “Classical Liberal Administrative Law”
- Vlad Tarko (University of Arizona) – “The Future of Meaningful Work”
- Steve Wall (University of Arizona) – “Rule of Law”
- Bart Wilson (Chapman University) – “Meaningful Economics”
- Matt Zwolinski (University of San Diego) – “Exploitation and Unfair Pricing”
Student Engagement
Big Question Project Presentations
Students presented original research on pressing philosophical, political, or economic questions that matter to the future of society.
Team Names & Project Titles
- 1st Place – The Chosen Ones, “Should parents have genetic sovereignty over their unborn children?”
- 2nd Place – Federally Deserved, “How should we determine which illicit markets should we legalize?”
- 3rd Place – Team In-N-Out, “How can privatized prisons be justified as a form of punishment?”
- Team Constellation, “How is it that distrust and isolation are growing in an increasingly data- rich and connected society?”
- MasterMinds, “How do attention based and data driven economies increase inequality?”
- PPEL – Perspicacious Penguins, “Do corporations have social responsibility?”
- Schadenfreude, “In what ways does disinformation lead to epistemic injustice?”
- Mind Over Market, “Is health care a commodity or right?”
- Visionaries, “How will evolving American labor aesthetics redefine the value of work?”
