The Charleston School of Law recently sat down with Professor Jonathan Marcantel to talk about his passion for teaching the law. He is an Associate Professor of Law at Charleston School of Law.

Charleston School of Law: Where did you grow up?

Professor Marcantel: Garden City, South Carolina. So about 90 miles north of here.

Charleston School of Law: How do you spend your free time?

Professor Marcantel: Any type of outdoor activities. I’m an avid backpacker. I also like snowboarding, kayaking, mountain biking: any type of outdoor athletic activity.

Charleston School of Law: Do you have favorite backpacking locations?

Professor Marcantel: The Pacific Northwest is by far my favorite, but closer to home, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee have great backcountries.

Charleston School of Law: Bucket list items for you?

Professor Marcantel: Travel. There are all kinds of mountains I want to climb.

Charleston School of Law: Where would you like to travel?

Professor Marcantel: I would love to go spend some time in Patagonia. I haven’t been to Southeast Asia yet. There are places in Southeast Asia like Cambodia that I would really love to go. I would love to go to Antarctica.

Charleston School of Law: Favorite place on earth for you?

Professor Marcantel: My favorite place to travel is Croatia. It kind of has a little bit of everything: deep history, great food, and stunningly beautiful. If you put me just in the States though, it’s the Pacific Northwest. I just absolutely love it.

Charleston School of Law: Favorite thing you’ve read recently?

Professor Marcantel: When I read for pleasure, it’s not high-minded stuff. I read science fiction and fantasy novels: so not really life impacting things. It’s an escape. I read for pleasure before bed. I want to be somewhere completely different where the rules don’t look like Earth’s rules.

Charleston School of Law: What is on your nightstand right now?

Professor Marcantel: It is called Fairytale. It’s a new Stephen King novel. It is very easy reading. But it’s interesting.

Charleston School of Law: Do you read off your phone or hard books?

Professor Marcantel: I read everything on my app. Particularly with backpacking, I have to worry about weight and volume. Everything has to get in my pack and then I have to carry it for miles. I can carry hundreds of books all at the same time with the app. I often go backpacking solo, so having things to read is great. Otherwise, when I get to camp, I’m like: OK, now what?

Charleston School of Law: Do you have an all-time favorite movie?

Professor Marcantel: I would say the original Halloween. It feels very real and gritty, and it forced the director to come up with a unique way of dealing with problems because he didn’t have the money to just gloss over it with cash.

Charleston School of Law: Are you into music?

Professor Marcantel: I can really enjoy anything other than opera. Spotify would tell you my No. 1 genre is indie folk, and my number one played artist is Fleetwood Mac.

Charleston School of Law: Have you ever done karaoke?

Professor Marcantel: Yes. It was a highly unusual circumstance. I was with a group of very close friends of mine.

Charleston School of Law: What did you sing?

Professor Marcantel: Bohemian Rhapsody.

Charleston School of Law: How did you develop a passion for practicing law?

Professor Marcantel: When I left law school, I went into an appellate clerkship and realized I just wanted to be a student forever. I practiced law for a while in hopes of someday becoming a law professor, thinking that as a law professor I would functionally get to be a student forever and share my passion for learning with other people.

Professor Jonathan Marcantel

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