When it came time to nominate candidates for the annual Poly Person of the Year, there was a huge consensus between most of the staff after Julie Gutmann’s name was added to the list. The replies were unanimous: Yes, Gutmann has indeed left a lasting impression amongst the students and fellow colleagues, who have continuously written about the excellence in her teaching philosophy. It is then inevitable that The Poly names Gutmann the Person of the Year, and for good reason.
Prior to her position at RPI, Gutmann taught various language and literature courses at SUNY Albany and taught abroad at both the University of Florence and the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, for 15 years. In Italy, Gutmann educated political science students in advanced ESL courses and advised graduate students with conference papers.
Gutmann was invited to RPI by being asked to teach first-year courses. After a series of great student evaluations, she was then asked again to take up a position to teach courses such as Asian World Views and Growing Up in America. With another onslaught of highly positive student reviews, the Institute decided to give her a full-time position, and Gutmann was hired to take part in the First-Year Experience.
Students who have taken literature and writing at RPI are familiar with Gutmann’s creative writing classes—both her poetry and non-fiction courses were always brimming with student registrations (and quickly closed for signups in the process). Gutmann continued to teach first-year courses such as Introduction to Literature, Growing up in America, and Life Writing; however, she also dedicated her time to a select number of students in an independent writing group, preparing and helping them with writing for publications.
Gutmann’s research into writing poetry and non-fiction has led to a new interest in digital storytelling, which “takes the creative process towards [the] multimedia [direction].” In fact, she described the use of still photography and movie-editing software as a way to further create a visual interpretation for the story.
To challenge students to break out of their shell, Gutmann is a proponent of the philosophy in Parker Palmer’s To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey and thus helps students to “identify their strengths” in order to find out “who they are.” Gutmann believes that the most important aspect is to flush out the content of what writers are trying to say without worrying about the various technicalities. “Vomit out the contents, then revise later” was usually her creative writing motto.
In her classes this term, Gutmann had asked her students to research and write papers on an open topic. The result of this exercise was greatly varied: while it took some a bit of time and forced effort to visit the libraries and dig through various archives, others greatly enjoyed the experience. The topics ranged from family recipes to the search for a missing grandfather to knitting as a way of building communication.
“My gift is listening deeply in order to help people find their own original space,” Gutmann said, after being asked about her working relationship with students.
RPI students have been a great pleasure of hers; engineering and science students “bring other vocabulary and a more practical approach to creative writing” as opposed to those with a liberal arts background. Overall, she was highly elated to have worked here.
It is very sad news, then, that RPI is no longer renewing Gutmann’s contract to teach courses here. She does, however, have brighter things to look forward to: Gutmann has already finished one of her two books and is 250 pages into her memoir, which she is continually revising and researching. For those who have yet to take a Gutmann class, I truly recommend her; Gutmann’s creative writing non-fiction class was by far the most enjoyable class I’ve had of my four years at RPI. But fear not, you still have your chance; while she is job-hunting, she still plans to stay in the area.
With her outstanding commitment to her students and dedication at a technical institute, it is no wonder she is highly loved by the campus writing community. In the best words possible, I turn to one of the nominators’ words: “Her contributions to this campus’ publications are countless, and her personality is one that can get even the most cold-hearted of engineers interested in writing memoirs, poetry, and personal essays. Julie Gutmann is the man.”
