Law and Literature, University of Florida (Levin)

This course will explore the intersection between law and literature. Literature is important for understanding law because it teaches a certain way of thinking — one that is synthetic, creative, and comfortable with ambiguity and ambivalence. Each class will explore one or more interrelated topics through a variety of literary and philosophical works. Readings will include works by Hawthorne, Shakespeare, Kafka, Dostoevsky, Capote, Garcia Marquez, Glaspell, and others. Topics will include: narrative, storytelling, and framing; custom, law and the political order; law, society, and power; interpretation, authority, and legitimacy; punishment, retribution, and redemption; and others. This course will provide an opportunity to think about the law in a new way, to read engaging works of fiction and non-fiction, and to examine the law from a humanistic and philosophical perspective. The 2018 version of the course listed Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter in place of Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird on the course syllabus. The syllabus was otherwise almost entirely the same. 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.