都柏林圣三一学院

What is Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology (P.P.E.S.)?

Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology, (P.P.E.S.) offers a coherent and integrated introduction to the study of social sciences and philosophy. It brings together some of the most important approaches to understanding society and, in doing so, develops skills for a whole range of future careers and activities. Central to the programme is the analysis of social and human phenomena through the lens of several complementary disciplines and analytical frameworks. By allowing a gradual specialisation over the course of the four-year degree programme, students ultimately obtain an excellent grounding in one, or at most two, of the disciplines which comprise the course.

Particularly appealing is the complementarity across the PPES disciplines. For example, while the well-publicised rise in inequality has economic origins, it has political and sociological ramifications. Moreover, the question of whether to address it is ultimately a philosophical one. A training in PPES enables students to analyse such issues rigorously and comprehensively. As such, it provides an excellent training in analytical thinking, a skill highly prized by employers.

P.P.E.S.: The course for you?

Drawing on the methods and insights from philosophy and the social sciences, the course examines the way societies are organised, governed and create wealth. If you are curious about the way our world is structured and how it has evolved over time, this may well be the course for you.

A great strength of PPES is its flexibility and the way it facilitates a range of possible subject concentrations and career trajectories. Even within disciplines there is a wide range of subject offerings. While all students attain a broad training in their first two years, the final two years allow students to cater the programme to their own strengths and interests. Depending on your interests, by your third year you could be either analysing exchange rate movements or Plato’s Republic---or indeed doing both! Few courses anywhere offer such scope and diversity.

P.P.E.S. @ Trinity

Trinity College Dublin is the only university in the Republic of Ireland that offers this broad combination of subjects in a single programme. Other institutions, including Trinity, offer two subject combinations such as Economics and Political Science or Economics and Philosophy, but PPES offers the opportunity to study these four fascinating subjects together. Following the first two years, the programme facilitates two years of greater specialisation in either one or two of the subjects.

At Trinity, we have world-class teachers and researchers who are committed to providing rigorous, interesting and challenging courses.

Graduate skills and career opportunities

With technology increasingly replacing routine tasks, employers today value the ability to think creatively and to develop innovative solutions to complex problems. A key strength of PPES is it provides students with such a training. Having studied a number of disciplines and developed numerous analytical skills, this degree confers the insights and skills to pursue careers in a variety of areas including public administration, teaching, journalism, media, law and management. Moreover, it also offers the opportunity to specialize and target certain career paths. Students specialising in economics, for instance, can pursue careers in finance, consulting, and public policy. Testifying to its breadth, graduates have pursued a variety of career paths after graduation. Recent graduates have found careers in such varied workplaces as Accenture, Augustus Cullen Law, Channel 4, Bank of Ireland, Deloitte, the Irish Central Bank, Greenpeace, and RTE.