Requirements of the Major
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.
Major Requirements (120 Units)
Updated June 2024
Foundation Courses in History and Philosophy (18 units)
- Ethics and Policy Core (36 units)
- History and Policy Core (36 units)
- Foundation Courses in Law and Social Science (18 units)
- Capstone Project Course (12 units)
- Bachelor of Science Option
Ethics and Policy Core (36 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.
80-135 Introduction to Political Philosophy
80-136 Social Structure, Public Policy & Ethics
80-208 Critical Thinking
80-221 Philosophy of Social Science
80-234 Race, Gender, and Justice
80-244 Environmental Ethics
80-245 Medical Ethics
80-249 AI, Society, and Humanity
80-305 Game Theory
80-306 Decision Theory
80-321 Causation, Law, and Social Policy
80-324 Philosophy of Economics
80-330 Ethical Theory
80-335 Social and Political Philosophy
80-336 Philosophy of Law
80-348 Health, Human Rights, and International Development
80-447 Global Justice
History and Policy Core (36 units)
Choose four of the courses below:
79-175 Moneyball Nation: Data in American Life
79-204 American Environmental History
79-212 Jim Crow America
79-215 Environmental Justice from Conservation to Climate Change
79-234 Technology and Society
79-242 African American History: Reconstruction to the Present
79-248 U.S. Constitution & the Presidency
79-250 Voting Rights: An Introduction
79-278 How (Not) to Change the World
79-300 Controversial Topics in the History of American Public Policy
79-320 Women, Politics, and Protest
79-321 Documenting Human Rights
79-330 Medicine and Society: Health, Healers, and Hospitals
79-343 Education, Democracy, and Civil Rights
79-360 Crime, Policing, and the Law: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
79-370 Technology in the United States
79-380 Hostile Environments: The Politics of Pollution in Global Perspective
Foundation Courses in Law and Social Science (18 units)
Choose two of the courses below:
17-200 Ethics and Policy Issues in Computing
19-101 Introduction to Engineering and Public Policy
70-332 Business, Society and Ethics
73-102 Principles of Microeconomics
73-103 Principles of Macroeconomics
84-104 Decision Processes in American Political Institutions
84-110 Foundations of Political Economy
84-352 Representation and Voting Rights
84-393 Legislative Decision Making: US Congress
84-402 Judicial Politics and Behavior
88-281 Topics in Law: 1st Amendment
88-284 Topics of Law: The Bill of Rights
EHPP students will also be able to complete the Foundations of Law and Social Science category by participating in the Washington Semester Program. Students are encouraged to pursue additional policy-relevant courses in law and social science, along lines consistent with their career ambitions.
EHPP Capstone Course (12 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 (79-449).
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.
21-257 Models and Methods for Optimization
36-202 Methods for Statistics & Data Science
or 70-208 Regression Analysis
36-303 Sampling, Survey and Society
36-309 Experimental Design for Behavioral & Social Sciences
70-257 Optimization for Business
80-305 Game Theory
80-306 Decision Theory
88-251 Empirical Research Methods
88-221 Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy
88-223 Decision Analysis
88-300 Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists