✕

Ethics, History, and Public Policy, B.A./B.S.

The Major in Ethics, History, and Public Policy

Professor Steven Schlossman, Director of Ethics, History, and Public Policy, History Department
Location: Baker Hall 236A, 412-268-2880, sls@andrew.cmu.edu

Mr. Patrick Doyle, M.A., Senior Academic Program Manager, Philosophy Department
Location: Baker Hall 161G, 412-268-3704, pdoyle2@andrew.cmu.edu

Dr. Alexandra Garnhart-Bushakra, Academic Program Manager, History Department
Location: Baker Hall 240G, 412-268-1260, agarnhar@andrew.cmu.edu

Ms. Beth Jameson, M.A., EHPP Academic Advisor and Humanities Coordinator, History Department
Location: Baker Hall 240A, 412-268-5666, bjameson@andrew.cmu.edu

Overview

The B.A./B.S. in Ethics, History, and Public Policy (EHPP) is an interdepartmental major offered jointly by the Departments of History and Philosophy.

Preparing students to be leaders is a vital goal of colleges and universities in every democratic society. The intellectual challenges facing public and private sector leaders have expanded dramatically since the pioneering EHPP program began in 1996, but the need remains as great as ever for broadly educated, ethically sensitive, and technically skilled leaders.

EHPP prepares students to demonstrate sophistication and flexibility in their command of interdisciplinary knowledge; deep historical understanding of how modern-day policy problems have emerged and evolved; and clear, rational criteria for ethical and socially just decision making. The curriculum provides students with a strong humanistic foundation for developing such high-level, historically grounded, and ethically attuned leadership capacities. It also offers ample room for specialization in a wide range of policy areas in which the History and Philosophy departments have special expertise, e.g., medicine and public health, criminal justice, environment, technology, artificial intelligence (AI), gender, civil rights, immigration, and education.

Ethics, History, and Public Policy may be elected as a primary or an additional major; the requirements for each are the same.

Curriculum

Students seeking a primary major in Ethics, History, and Public Policy may elect to receive either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree (additional requirements apply; see below). Basic requirements include 120 units encompassing 45 units in History, 45 units in Philosophy, 18 units in Law and Social Science, and a 12-unit EHPP Capstone Course. This program may also be taken as an additional (i.e., second) major.  All courses toward the major must be taken for a letter grade and must be passed with a grade of "C" or better. Students can double count any course for the major with another major or minor, with the exception of History, for which a student can double count a maximum of two courses. 

The Major in Ethics, History, and Public Policy120 units

I. Foundation Courses in History and Philosophy18 units

Choose one of the following three courses:

Units
79-189Democracy and History: Thinking Beyond the Self9
79-248U.S. Constitution & the Presidency9
79-250Voting Rights: An Introduction9

Choose one of the following two courses:

80-130Introduction to Ethics9
80-330Ethical Theory9
II. Ethics and Policy Core36 units

Choose four of the courses below:

No more than one course may be taken at the 100 level and at least one course must be taken at the 300 level or above.

80-135Introduction to Political Philosophy9
80-136Social Structure, Public Policy & Ethics9
80-208Against the Algorithm: Critical Thinking as a Way of Life9
80-221Philosophy of Social Science9
80-234Philosophy of Race and Gender9
80-244Environmental Ethics9
80-245Medical Ethics9
80-249AI, Society, and Humanity9
80-305Game Theory9
80-306Decision Theory9
80-324Philosophy of Economics9
80-335Social and Political Philosophy9
80-336Philosophy of Law9
80-348Health, Human Rights, and International Development9
80-447Seminar in Global Justice9
III. History and Policy Core36 units

Choose four of the courses below:

79-145Genocide and Weapons of Mass Destruction9
79-175Moneyball Nation: Data in American Life9
79-178Equality Under the Law9
79-212Jim Crow America9
79-213The American Railroad: Decline and Renaissance in the Age of Deregulation6
79-215Environmental Justice from Conservation to Climate Change9
79-230The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Peace Process Through 1948 to Present9
79-234Technology and Society9
79-245Capitalism and Individualism in American Culture9
79-246War, Genocide, and Gender in Modern Europe9
79-260Nazi Germany: A Practical History9
79-270Anti-Semitism Then and Now: Perspectives from the Middle Ages to the Present9
79-278How (Not) to Change the World9
79-289Animal Planet: An Environmental History of People and Animals9
79-290The Slave Passage: From West Africa to the Americas9
79-296Religion in American Politics6
79-300History of U.S. Immigration Policy9
79-302Killer Robots? The Ethics, Law, and Politics of Drones and A.I. in War9
79-320Women, Politics, and Protest9
79-321Documenting Human Rights9
79-329Introduction to Queer Studies9
79-330Medicine and Society: Health, Healers, and Hospitals9
79-331Body Politics: Women and Health in America9
79-343Education, Democracy, and the Arts9
79-355Fake News: "Truth" in the History of American Journalism6
79-360Crime, Policing, and the Law: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives9
79-380Hostile Environments: The Politics of Pollution in Global Perspective9
IV. Foundation Courses in Law and Social Science18 units

 Choose two of the courses below:

17-200Ethics and Policy Issues in Computing9
19-101Introduction to Engineering and Public Policy12
66-226Law and Literature9
70-332Business, Society and Ethics9
73-102Principles of Microeconomics9
73-103Principles of Macroeconomics9
84-104Decision Processes in American Political Institutions9
84-110The Economics of Politics and Technology9
84-352Representation and Voting Rights9
84-393The US Congress: Legislative Progress or Paralysis?9
84-402Judicial Politics and Behavior9
88-281Topics in Law: 1st Amendment9
88-284Topics of Law: The Bill of Rights9
EHPP students will also be able to complete the Foundations of Law and Social Science category by participating in the Washington Semester Program.  Furthermore, students are encouraged to pursue additional policy-relevant courses in law and social science, along lines consistent with their career ambitions; these additional courses may count towards the category, with permission from the Director of EHPP.
 
V. EHPP Capstone Course12 units

In Fall semester of senior year, EHPP students will participate in an interdisciplinary capstone course that asks students to integrate their studies in Ethics and History by addressing a policy topic of contemporary national urgency (e.g., climate change, immigration, infrastructure, abortion, hate speech, reparations, law enforcement and policing, charter schools, affirmative action, vaccination, taxation, voting rights, global justice). The Departments of History and Philosophy will alternate teaching the EHPP Capstone Course. 

79-449EHPP Capstone Course
[cross-listed]		12
80-449EHPP Capstone Course
[cross-listed]		12
VI. Bachelor of Science Option

Students may elect to earn a Bachelor of Science rather than a Bachelor of Arts degree by completing two courses from the list below, or by petitioning the Director of EHPP to accept equivalent courses as substitutions.

36-202Methods for Statistics & Data Science9
or 70-208 Regression Analysis
36-303Sampling, Survey and Society9
36-309Experimental Design for Behavioral & Social Sciences9
70-257Optimization for Business9
80-305Game Theory9
80-306Decision Theory9
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
88-223Decision Analysis12
88-251Empirical Research Methods9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9

Sample Curriculum

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
Foundations Course in History Foundations Course in Law and Social SciencesEHPP Capstone CourseEthics and Policy Core Course
Foundations Course in PhilosophyFoundations Course in Law and Social SciencesEthics and Policy Core CourseHistory and Policy Core Course
Ethics and Policy Core CourseEthics and Policy Core CourseHistory and Policy Core CourseThird Course (open)
History and Policy Core CourseHistory and Policy Core CourseFourth Course (open)Fourth Course (open)
Fifth Course OpenFifth Course (open)Fifth Course (open)Fifth Course (open)

The above sample program is presented as a two-year (junior-senior year) plan for completing EHPP major requirements. Its purpose is to show that this program can be completed in as few as two years; not that it must be.

Students may enter the EHPP major, and begin major course requirements, as early as the second semester of their first year.  Students should consult their advisor when planning their program.

VII. Additional Major

The B.A./B.S. in Ethics, History, and Public Policy may be scheduled as an additional major in consultation with the Academic Advisor, Beth Jameson. All requirements for the additional major are the same.

Back to top