New Master’s Programme on ‘Philosophy, Politics and Economics’ Starts at the HSE
In 2014, an innovative master’s programme on ‘Philosophy, Politics and Economics’ (PPE) will open at the HSE. The new programme is a result of cooperation between several HSE faculties: Political Science, Economics, Philosophy, and World Economy and International Affairs. Witten/Herdecke University (Germany) is an international partner of the programme.
In the 1920s, PPE came to prominence as a modernized version of the classical university education: philosophy was supplemented with both economics and politics. In the 21st century there is a new wave of interest in this interdisciplinary programme, but with a different emphasis: economics, political science, and especially New Political Economy are now supplemented with a broader humanities knowledge, philosophy. This is the approach the HSE has chosen, according to PPE programme heads, Mikhail Ilyin, professor at the HSE Department of Comparative Politics, and Oleg Ananyin, Professor at the Subdepartment of Economic Methodology and History.
The main specifics and value of the new master’s programme lie in its interdisciplinary character. In order to understand many contemporary social phenomena, we have to approach them from various sides and broaden the sphere of application of specific research disciplines.
As part of the core curriculum, PPE students are offered courses in global governance, philosophy of law, and economic regulation in business. In addition to that, such disciplines as ‘Philosophical Problems of Social Sciences’ and ‘Corruption and Mafia as Modern Social Institutions’ are going to to be offered.
The master’s programme in PPE at the HSE will attract lecturers and students from Europe, and in the near future this programme is going to be made double-degree. An agreement with the University of Hamburg is also in the pipeline.
Konstantin Vodopianov, specially for the HSE News Service
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