Law & Literature Seminar, Mercer University

This course will examine the links between two bodies of discourse: law and literature. Law and literature are intimately related in two essential operations: interpretation and composition. Generally, law school courses in law and literature have explored these two operations by using one of two approaches: "Law as Literature," or "Law in Literature." Both methods draw on literary criticism and theory to gain new perspective and insight into the law. The "Law as Literature" school applies literary theory to legal texts. The "Law in Literature" school reads literary works dealing with legal themes or issues to help us understand the law and our role as lawyers in new ways. This course explores both of these approaches, with the goal of increasing student capabilities in both interpretation and composition. Enrollment limit of 15. This information has been collected for the Post-Discipline Online Syllabus Database. The database explores the use of literature by schools of professional education in North America. It forms part of a larger project titled Post-Discipline: Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, led by Dr Merve Emre with the assistance of Dr Hayley G. Toth. You can find more information about the project at https://postdiscipline.english.ox.ac.uk/. Data was collected and accurate in 2021/22.