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Ethics and Leadership with tracks in Philosophy and Public Policy 


The Ethics and Leadership major meets a critical need to integrate expertise from the human sciences with the best of thought from philosophy and political theory about the ultimate ends of human life, about right and wrong, rights, duties and the common good. Leaders need the ability to see, frame, and think wisely about the ethical issues that confront them. The major is not just for those who aspire to hold political office or high-ranking positions within various organizations.  People often serve as leaders or co-leaders in smaller groups within their organizations or find themselves in social contexts where they may be called upon to lead. Citizens or members of organizations should have thoughtful and informed conceptions of what makes a good leader, so that they may choose wisely or be prepared to become one.  


The human sciences have made significant advances in understanding what makes for effective leaders and organizations and the qualities of character needed to make sound decisions. For example, social and organizational psychology have identified qualities of leaders and group dynamics that foster loyalty, trust, and creativity. Political science and economics have explored different models for supportive and regulatory relationships between governments and markets.  Expertise of this kind is crucial for enabling leaders to deal with the challenges posed by globalization, climate change, and profound changes in technology. This interdisciplinary major, drawing from fields such as philosophy, political theory, and the social sciences, seeks to provide students with the expertise that is needed to make the decisions that will face them as they navigate such challenges, especially insofar as they do so as leaders. Students will learn to frame specific expertise with a broader and deeper framework of thinking about what kinds of leaders and citizens they should be, and what their ultimate values ought to be. The major will encourage them to know more and to think more deeply about their own cultural tradition but will also allow them to understand different traditions of thought about how to make ethical decisions, and about the virtues of leaders, the virtues of those they lead, and the right relationship between the two. Students will learn to identify, understand, and assess the differences and similarities between different perspectives about these matters, as well as about ultimate values that go into thinking about justice and the good life. Such global perspectives, are, more than ever, crucial for leadership. Students can choose among two disciplinary tracks: Philosophy and Public Policy. 


Major Requirements 

(Not every course listed is offered every term, and the course list will be updated periodically. Please refer to the online Course Catalog for Courses offered in 2023-2024.) 

Ethics and Leadership / Philosophy

Divisional Foundation Courses  

Course Code 

Course Name 

Course Credit 

SOSC 101 

Foundational Questions in Social Science 

4 

ARHU 101 

The Art of Interpretation: Written Texts 

4 
Interdisciplinary Courses  

Course Code 

Course Name 

Course Credit 

ETHLDR 101 

Ethics and Leadership 

4 

ETHLDR 202 

Ethics, Markets, and Politics  

4 

ETHLDR 203 

Conceptions of Democracy and Meritocracy 

4 

ETHLDR 303/BEHAVSCI 303 

Organizational Behavior and Leadership 

4 

ETHLDR 490 

Senior Seminar: Advanced Topics 

4 

And choose one course from the following three courses 

ETHLDR 205 

Trust and Cross-Cultural Leadership 

4 

ETHLDR 209[1] 

Psychology of Values  

4 

ETHLDR 210[2] 

The Sociology of Morality and Politics 

4 

Disciplinary Courses  

Course Code  

Course Name  

Course Credit  

Take the following four courses: 

PHIL 101  

Introduction to Philosophy   

4  

PHIL 102/HIS 101  

Ancient Chinese History and Philosophy  

4  

PHIL 207 

Ethical Theory  

4  

PHIL 205  

Logic  

4 

Choose 2 of the following courses, at least one of which must be 300-level or higher:  

PHIL 208 

Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy  

4  

PHIL 209 

17th-18th Century European Philosophy  

4  

PHIL 302 

Philosophy of Language  

4  

PHIL 301

Philosophy of Mind  

4  

PHIL 304 

Philosophy of Science  

4  

PHIL 305 

Cross-cultural Philosophy  

4  

PHIL 306[3] 

Epistemology   

4  

PHIL 307 

Metaphysics   

4  

PHIL 398

Special Topics in Philosophy

4 

Electives 

Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year.  (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)  

Course Code 

Course Name 

Course Credit 

Ethics 

PHIL 108 

Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence 

2 

PHIL 111 

Non-Human Animal Ethics 

2 

PHIL 206 

Climate Change Ethics 

2 

ETHLDR 204 

Environmental Ethics 

4 

ETHLDR 206 

Global Justice and Healthcare 

4 

Global Philosophy 

PHIL 103 

Chinese and Mediterranean Philosophy 

4 

PHIL 208 

Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy 

4 

PHIL 209 

17th and 18th Century Western Philosophy 

4 

PHIL 305 

Cross-cultural Philosophy 

4 

Philosophy, Politics, and Economics 

ETHLDR 108 

Democracy and Inclusion: Hopes, Prospects, Dilemmas 

2 

POLSCI 204 

The U.S. Constitution and its Critics 

4 

POLSCI 311/SOCIOL 311 

The Political and Social Thought of Hannah Arendt 

4 

POLSCI 312 

Islamic Political Thought 

4 

POLSCI 313/PSYCH 313 

Political Psychology 

4 

CULANTH 314/POLSCI314 

Refugees and The Biopolitics of Citizenship 

4 

 PHIL 303

Topics in Feminist Philosophy

 4

Metaphysics & Epistemology 

PHIL 112 

Thinking and Doing 

2 

PHIL 302 

Philosophy of Language 

4 

PHIL 301 

Philosophy of Mind 

4 

PHIL 304 

Philosophy of Science 

4 

PHIL 306[4] 

Epistemology 

4 

PHIL 307 

Metaphysics 

4 

Applied Topics: 

GCULS 108 

Science, Culture, and Politics 

2 

PHIL 109 

Philosophy Through Computer Science 

2 

PHIL 110 

Philosophy and Sport 

2 

Ethics and Leadership / Public Policy 

Divisional Foundation Courses  

Course Code 

Course Name 

Course Credit 

ARHU 101 

The Art of Interpretation: Written Texts 

4 

SOSC 101 

Foundational Questions in Social Science 

4 

SOSC 102 

Introduction to Research Methods 

4
Interdisciplinary Courses  

Course Code 

Course Name 

Course Credit 

ETHLDR 101 

Ethics and Leadership 

4 

ETHLDR 202 

Ethics, Markets, and Politics  

 4 

ETHLDR 203 

Conceptions of Democracy and Meritocracy 

4 

ETHLDR 303/BEHAVSCI 303 

Organizational Behavior and Leadership 

4 

ETHLDR 490 

Senior Seminar: Advanced Topics 

4 

 And choose one course from the following three courses

ETHLDR 205 

Trust and Cross-Cultural Leadership 

4 

ETHLDR 209[5] 

Psychology of Values  

4 

ETHLDR 210[6] 

The Sociology of Morality and Politics 

4 
Disciplinary Courses  

Course Code 

Course Name 

Course Credit 

STATS 101 

Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods  

4 

PUBPOL 101 

Introduction to Policy Analysis  

4 

PUBPOL 301 

Political Analysis for Public Policy 

4 

PUBPOL 303 

Policy Choice as Value Conflict  

4 

And choose one course from the following two courses 

PUBPOL 205[7]

Microeconomic Policy Tools  

4 

ECON 201 

Intermediate Microeconomics I 

4 
Electives 

Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year.  (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)  

Course Code 

Course Name 

Course Credit 

Empirical Methods for Policy Analysis 

CULANTH 302 

Field Methods 

4 

STATS 305 

Study Design: Design of Surveys and Causal Studies 

4 

POLSCI 301 

Program Evaluation 

4 

SOSC 333 

Social and Economic Networks 

4 

INFOSCI 302 

Introduction to Geographical Information Science 

4 

SOSC 314 

Computational Social Science: Tools to Collect & Analyze Human Behavior Using Data from the Internet 

4 

POLECON 211 

Risk Analysis and Forecasting 

2 

Ethics, Law, and Public Policy 

ETHLDR 108 

Democracy and Inclusion: Hopes, Prospects, Dilemmas 

2 

PUBPOL 215 

Law, Ethics, and Responsibility 

4 

PUBPOL 220 

Introduction to Regulatory Governance 

4 

PUBPOL 318 

How to Change the World: The Role of Non-State Actors 

4 

PUBOL 110 

Introduction to Human Rights 

4 

SOSC 204 

Business Ethics 

4 

PUBPOL 217 

Enterprising Leadership 

4 

PUBPOL 218 

Ethics in an Unjust World  

4 

POLSCI 105 

Contemporary Political Ideologies 

2 

The Psychological, Sociocultural, and Political-Economic Contexts of Policymaking 

BEHAVSCI 102  

Mechanisms of Human Behavior 

4 

BEHAVSCI 202 

Institutions, Groups, and Society 

4 

POLSCI 313 /PSYCH 313 

Political Psychology 

4 

PUBPOL 302 

Public Opinion 

4 

POLSCI 208 

Political and Social Inequality 

4 

POLSCI 212 

The Pathologies of Modern Society: Foundational Ideas 

4 

POLSCI 201 

Political Institutions and Processes 

4 

POLSCI 307 

Political Economy of Institutions 

4 

CULMOVE 203 

Wealth, Inequality and Power 

4 

SOCIOL 204 

Identity, Action, and Emotion 

4 

[1] This course was named ETHLDR 209 the Psychology of Justice prior to fall term 2023.

[2] This course was numbered ETHLDR 302 prior to fall term 2023.

[3] This course was named and numbered PHIL 204 Theory of Knowledge prior to fall term 2023.

[4] This course was named and numbered PHIL 204 Theory of Knowledge prior to fall term 2023.

[5] This course was named ETHLDR 209 Psychology of Justice prior to fall term 2023.

[6] This course was numbered ETHLDR 302 prior to fall term 2023.

[7] This course was numbered PUBPOL 304 prior to fall term 2022.