John Dalton, Associate Professor at Wake Forest University, will give a talk with the title “Creative Destruction and the Age of AI.”

The talk will take place on March 17, 2026, from 12:00pm-1:30pm in the Lury and Barbara Goodall Room in the Newman Library.

All faculty, students, and members of the public 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: Under the Skin. Directed by Jonathan Glazer, this thought-provoking science fiction film from 2013 stars Scarlett Johansson as a mysterious woman preying on lonely men in Scotland.

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.

Co-winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, Professor Daron Acemoglu, will deliver the 2026 PPE Distinguished Public Lecture at Virginia Tech.

Daron Acemoglu is Institute Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Professor Acemoglu is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, and the National Academy of Sciences. He also serves on the editorial boards of multiple leading economics journals and is a founding co-director of MIT’s Blueprint Labs.

Professor Acemoglu’s research spans a wide array of topics in political economy, development economics, economic growth, technological change, and inequality, exploring the deep historical and institutional foundations of prosperity and poverty. Together with James A. Robinson, he is the author of Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (2013), a global bestseller that challenges conventional explanations of economic development and underscores the role of political and economic institutions.

Professor Acemoglu has received numerous awards, including the John Bates Clark Medal in 2005 and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in 2018. In 2024, together with Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson, he won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his pioneering work on the interplay between technological progress, labor markets, and democratic institutions, highlighting how institutional choices and technology shape societal outcomes.

Professor Acemoglu’s work is driven by the conviction that economics must engage with the real world, offering insights not only into how the economy functions, but also how it can be shaped to serve human flourishing.

At Virginia Tech, Professor Acemoglu will speak about his forthcoming book on remaking liberalism, which is scheduled to appear in the summer of 2026.

The virtual lecture will take place on April 8, 2026, from 5-6:30pm (Eastern Time). Advance registration is required for this event. The registration link will be provided closer to the event. Here is more information.

All faculty, students, and members of the public are cordially invited to attend this event.

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.

At this panel discussion, current PPE Research Fellows Sergio Barrera, Brianna Felegi, and Phil Yaure will discuss their work on immigration enforcement, educational opportunities, and solidarity.

Dr. Barrera’s work explores the impact of immigration enforcement, analyzing whether enforcement policies are effective at solving economic problems and considering their broader implications. Dr. Felegi’s work analyzes the impact of first-semester math placement on post-secondary educational outcomes, with a focus on STEM degrees across racial and socioeconomic groups. Dr. Yaure’s research considers what it means to build solidarity in places fractured by oppression, viewing organizing as an activity that transforms individuals’ interests to generate commonality from which solidarity can be built.

Join this informal, yet intellectually rich discussion. 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.