There is an interesting article on teaching economics and literature by by W. B. Sockwell and Zeynep Tenger, both of Berry College, titled Using Economics and Literature to Understand Changing Perceptions About the Individual's Relation to Society. In this article they discuss the benefits of teaching a class using both economic and literary texts. They observe that both economists and literary authors are interested in asking, "What is the role of the individual and what is the best way to organize society?"
This is a somewhat different focus than that with which we typically deal here, but the fact is that there are a variety of ways of approaching connecting literature and economics, and their approach is one to be commended and recommended.
Fantastic! Last week I was sitting in on one of Pete Boettke's graduate classes at George Mason University. Boettke is a great scholar of Austrian economics (see his blog http://www.coordinationproblem.org/). He was telling me that in one of his undergraduate intro classes they study both economic and literary texts. He made his students read Dickens' Hard Times and Rand's Atlas Shrugged. I love hearing that this is going on in classrooms!
ReplyDeleteI know Pete, and I read and comment on Coordination Problem all the time. I'm not surprised he uses literature. How did you end up sitting in on Pete's class?
ReplyDeleteI have moved to NYC for the summer, and I went to stay with my brother, an undergrad econ student at GMU, while I wrote my final papers. The "GMU squad" are the people really responsible for my interest in free-market economics, so I tried to go to as many classes as I could while I was there. My brother is not a student of his but we both admire his work and he very kindly let us listen in. It was a fantastic class!
ReplyDeleteCount me as jealous. I would love to move to NYC -- for more than just a summer.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised Pete let you sit in. He's a very generous man. That is true of all the Austrian economists I know.