Teaching Contributions
I have been at St. Jerome’s since Spring 2019 and have taught a variety of English and communications-based courses such as Professional Communications in Statistics and Actuarial Science, The Superhero, Popular Potter, and Canadian Children’s Literature.
Research or Other Contributions to the Field
My research work has primarily focused on contemporary Canadian life writing. My 2015 dissertation was on contemporary Canadian Mennonite life writing and I have written on that topic as well as on auto/biography in general for various journals. Lately, though, I have been focused more on alternate approaches to labour/work that have been presented by writers and thinkers throughout history.
Interests
In my downtime, I like to spend time with my partner and our eleven-year old daughter. Sometimes I try to be creative and write short stories and music. I have also been publishing a podcast called J Hutch Talks Too Much (Does it rhyme? Yes! Was that intentional? Um . . . sure!). On the podcast I talk about old books, old movies, and contemporary politics, which might eventually create a time paradox.
Path to St. Jerome’s
I started teaching courses at the University of Waterloo in 2012 when I was doing my PhD and later made my way across the street to St. Jerome’s. Since working at Brock University from 2006 to 2010, I have always appreciated and felt at home in smaller academic environments. The engagement not only between instructors but also with students strikes me as creating the sort of friendly, collegial, and supportive atmosphere that I had imagined when I envisioned the academic world in my head when I was younger. Consequently, St. Jerome’s has always been somewhere I was happy to belong.