Join the David H. Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics for its annual “Meet and Greet” event on September 9, 2025, from 3:30-4:30pm, at the Center (free parking).

We will have an informal reception (free food) for faculty, staff, students, and anyone interested in PPE. Learn more about the Center, its faculty, degree programs, student club, and our events and activities this year.

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.

This semester, the PPE Reading Group will meet for lunch and discussion of Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (2023) by Nobel Laureates Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. Free pizza and soft drinks will be provided!

From plows to factories to AI, new technologies have driven economic change. While technology is often viewed as bringing progress, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson argue that the reality is more complicated. Technology can provide new opportunities and new growth, but who will reap the benefits if contested. The powerful are often able to harness technological change for their own gain. Acemoglu and Johnson lead us through a discussion of how technological change occurs, who benefits from it, and how we can bend its trajectory to make everyone better off. As they emphasize in their introduction, “you can’t stop technological change, but you can shape it.”

The reading group will meet from 12:30-1:45pm on September 16, September 30, October 21, and November 11, in Pamplin Hall, Room 1028.

The Center will provide free copies of the book. Participation is open to all Virginia Tech students and faculty.

To receive your free book, please sign up with PPE Core Faculty member Melinda Miller (millermc@nullvt.edu), ideally well before the first meeting

Mercedes Corredor, a PPE affiliate and faculty member in Philosophy at Virginia Tech, will give a talk with the title “When Porn Doesn’t Speak.”

The talk will take place on September 24, 2025, from 12:15-1:30pm, in the conference room of the Kellogg Center (820 University City Blvd).

The PPE Working Paper series offers a friendly and constructive intellectual environment for sharing and advancing preliminary research in PPE. Please see here for more information.

All faculty and students are welcome to attend. Lunch will be served! Please RSVP (strongly recommended).

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.

This semester, the PPE Reading Group will meet for lunch and discussion of Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (2023) by Nobel Laureates Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. Free pizza and soft drinks will be provided!

From plows to factories to AI, new technologies have driven economic change. While technology is often viewed as bringing progress, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson argue that the reality is more complicated. Technology can provide new opportunities and new growth, but who will reap the benefits if contested. The powerful are often able to harness technological change for their own gain. Acemoglu and Johnson lead us through a discussion of how technological change occurs, who benefits from it, and how we can bend its trajectory to make everyone better off. As they emphasize in their introduction, “you can’t stop technological change, but you can shape it.”

The reading group will meet from 12:30-1:45pm on September 16, September 30, October 21, and November 11, in Pamplin Hall, Room 1028.

The Center will provide free copies of the book. Participation is open to all Virginia Tech students and faculty.

To receive your free book, please sign up with PPE Core Faculty member Melinda Miller (millermc@nullvt.edu), ideally well before the first meeting.

William Thomson, Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester, will give a talk with the title “Allocation Problems.”

The talk will take place on October 15, 2025, from 4-5:30pm in Owens Ballroom (Owens Hall).

The talk is tailored to appeal to both faculty and students, with plenty of time for discussion and interaction with the guest speaker. The talk will be followed by a public reception.

All faculty and students are welcome to attend. Please see here for more information.

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.

This semester, the PPE Reading Group will meet for lunch and discussion of Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (2023) by Nobel Laureates Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. Free pizza and soft drinks will be provided!

From plows to factories to AI, new technologies have driven economic change. While technology is often viewed as bringing progress, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson argue that the reality is more complicated. Technology can provide new opportunities and new growth, but who will reap the benefits if contested. The powerful are often able to harness technological change for their own gain. Acemoglu and Johnson lead us through a discussion of how technological change occurs, who benefits from it, and how we can bend its trajectory to make everyone better off. As they emphasize in their introduction, “you can’t stop technological change, but you can shape it.”

The reading group will meet from 12:30-1:45pm on September 16, September 30, October 21, and November 11, in Pamplin Hall, Room 1028.

The Center will provide free copies of the book. Participation is open to all Virginia Tech students and faculty.

To receive your free book, please sign up with PPE Core Faculty member Melinda Miller (millermc@nullvt.edu), ideally well before the first meeting.

Alexander Motchoulski, Assistant Professor of philosophy at the University of Virginia, will give a talk with the title “Territorial Reparations for Historical Injustice.”

The talk will take place on November 5, 2025, from 4-5:30pm in Owens Ballroom (Owens Hall).

The talk is tailored to appeal to both faculty and students, with plenty of time for discussion and interaction with the guest speaker. The talk will be followed by a public reception.

All faculty and students are welcome to attend. Please see here for more information.

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.

This semester, the PPE Reading Group will meet for lunch and discussion of Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (2023) by Nobel Laureates Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. Free pizza and soft drinks will be provided!

From plows to factories to AI, new technologies have driven economic change. While technology is often viewed as bringing progress, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson argue that the reality is more complicated. Technology can provide new opportunities and new growth, but who will reap the benefits if contested. The powerful are often able to harness technological change for their own gain. Acemoglu and Johnson lead us through a discussion of how technological change occurs, who benefits from it, and how we can bend its trajectory to make everyone better off. As they emphasize in their introduction, “you can’t stop technological change, but you can shape it.”

The reading group will meet from 12:30-1:45pm on September 16, September 30, October 21, and November 11, in Pamplin Hall, Room 1028.

The Center will provide free copies of the book. Participation is open to all Virginia Tech students and faculty.

To receive your free book, please sign up with PPE Core Faculty member Melinda Miller (millermc@nullvt.edu), ideally well before the first meeting.

Melinda Miller, a PPE Core Faculty member and Assistant Professor in Economics at Virginia Tech, will give a talk with the title “Solely by Reason of Her Marriage: The Effect of the 1907 Expatriation Act on Marriage and Family Formation.”

The talk will take place on November 17, 2025, from 12:15-1:30pm, in the conference room of the Kellogg Center (820 University City Blvd).

The PPE Working Paper series offers a friendly and constructive intellectual environment for sharing and advancing preliminary research in PPE. Please see here for more information.

All faculty and students are welcome to attend. Lunch will be served! Please RSVP (strongly recommended).

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.

The PPE Cinema brings together faculty, students, and members of the public to watch and discuss great films that raise questions in philosophy, politics, and economics. Food and beverages will be provided.

Film title: Triangle of Sadness. Ruben Östlund’s unhinged black comedy about a social media celebrity couple and various other people on a luxury cruise won the Palme d’Or in Cannes 2022.

The PPE Cinema is held in the conference room of the Kellogg Center (820 University City Blvd). If you would like to attend, please contact Fabian Wendt (fabianwendt@nullvt.edu ).

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.