Psychology and Literature: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Liberal Curriculum

Abstract

An interdisciplinary team-taught course dealing with the application of three major psychological theories to the interpretation of major literary works is described. Two important features of the course were: (a) the use of literature as the basis for extended theoretical analysis of human behavior, and (b) the application of a more sophisticated approach to the psychological interpretation of literary works. Student reactions over 2 years indicate that these objectives are being realized. This course has been a highly successful component of an integrated liberal arts curriculum.