PPE Events Spring 2025

This semester, the Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics will organize the following events and activities.

PPE Working Paper Series. The Center organizes a working paper series that allows PPE Core Faculty, PPE Research Fellows, and PPE Affiliated Faculty members to present some of their work in progress. The series offers a friendly and constructive environment for sharing and advancing preliminary research in PPE and is typically combined with a lunch with participants, including interested undergraduate and graduate students. For the lineup of speakers, please see the PPE Calendar.

PPE Cinema. The PPE Cinema welcomes faculty and students from across campus who are interested in watching and discussing great films. The PPE Cinema will screen “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (January 29th), “About Elly” (February 26th), and “The Hunt” (March 19th). Together we watch movies and discuss the questions in philosophy, politics, and economics that they raise. For more information, please visit here.

PPE Research Speaker Series. The Kellogg Center will host one PPE Research Speaker Series talk this semester. Alex Motchoulski (University of Virginia) will give a talk with the title “Reparations, Recognition, and the Restoration of Relational Equality” on February 12, 2025, from 4-5:30pm. This talk is tailored to appeal to both faculty and students and provides time for discussion and interaction with the guest speaker. The talk will be followed by a public reception. For more information, please see the PPE Calendar.

PPE Distinguished Public Lecture. This year’s PPE Distinguished Public Lecture will be delivered by Bruce Ackerman (Yale University) who served as the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University. He is the author of nineteen books in political philosophy, constitutional law, and public policy.

Professor Ackerman is a Commander of the French Order of Merit, a member of the American Law Institute, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The American Philosophical Society has awarded him the Henry Phillips Prize for lifetime achievement in Jurisprudence, especially noting his exploration of the great turning points in American constitutional history in his three-volume series, We the People. Professor Ackerman has been named a Leading Global Thinker by Foreign Policy magazine.

The lecture will take place on March 26, 2025, from 5-6:30pm (Moss Arts Center) and is followed by a public reception. Here is more information about the event.

PPE Research Fellow Panel. At this panel discussion, current PPE Research Fellows Ariel Ahram, Clara Suong, and Xu Lin will discuss their work on governance, secrecy, and social networks. The panel discussion will take place on April 16, 2025, from 4-5:30pm (Graduate Life Center Multipurpose Room). The discussion will be followed by a public reception.

PPE Undergraduate Research Journal. The editorial board of The Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Review (PPER) is pleased to announce that a new volume of the PPER will be published in the spring semester, featuring contributions from PPE students around the world. The volume will include contributions from PPE students at Virginia Tech and around the world. Here is more information about the scope, submission guidelines, and review process of the journal.

To learn more about these events and a complete list of upcoming events organized by the Kellogg Center, please visit the PPE Calendar. PPE events are open to the public and all faculty and students are cordially invited to attend.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact ppe@nullvt.edu at least ten business days before the event.