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Spring 2001

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 16, Number 2

Categories: Spring 2001

Using Economics and Literature to Understand Changing Perceptions About the Individual's Relation to Society

W. B. Sockwell, Berry College

Zeynep Tenger, Berry College

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UsingEconomicsandLiteraturetoUnderstandChangingPerceptionsAbouttheIndividual=sRelationtoSocietyW.B.SockwellZeynepTengerBerryCollegeWhenweteachprinciplesofeconomics,wecommonlyassertthateconomistsassumeindividualsareprimarilymotivatedbyrationalself-interestandthenwecarefullyexplainhowamarketsystemwillleadusAasifbyaninvisiblehand@tocreatemaximumvaluesgivenourlimitedresources.Whilesomestudentsareconvincedbythisapproach,manyaresimplynotengagedbythislineofthought.Similarly,whenEnglishprofessorsdiscusstheimpactofpoliticaleconomyonthenineteenthcenturynovelandviceversa,theyaremetwithagooddealofindifferenceonthepartofliteraturemajors.Asprofessors,whenweencounterskepticismweoftenaskourselveswhetherthereisanotherwaywecantellthestory.Fortunately,wehavehadseveralopportunitiestotryanalternativeapproach.We(aneconomicsprofessorandanEnglishprofessor)haveteamtaughtacoursethatcombinesreadingsbyeconomistsandnovelists.Thisapproachhasprovenverysuccessfulinstimulatingstudentstothinkaboutlargerissuesthattraditionalcoursesarenotabletoaddress.OurcoursetracesthedevelopmentofmoderneconomicideasbyjuxtaposingwritingsofAdamSmithandothereconomistswithnovelstodemonstratehowsimilarissueswerebeingdiscussedbycontemporarywritersasthedisciplinedeveloped.Whiletheemphasisofthenovelistsandeconomistswereoftendifferent,studentsbegintounderstandthattheywereoftengrapplingwith

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Using Economics and Literature to Understand Changing Perceptions About the Individual's Relation to Society
Authors/Creators:	W. B. Sockwell, Berry College Zeynep Tenger, Berry College
Year:	2001
Volume:	16
Number:	2
Pages:	128 - 137
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles

Citation:
Sockwell, W. B.; Tenger, Zeynep / 2001. "Using Economics and Literature to Understand Changing Perceptions About the Individual's Relation to Society." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 16(2): 128-137.