Welcome Dr. Dennis Cutchins!

The Honors Program welcomes Dr. Dennis Cutchins as the new Associate Director of the Program.

Dr. Dennis Cutchins knows exactly what book he would bring if he were stranded on a desert island. Herman Melville’s magnum opus, “Moby Dick.” “Every time I read it I find new stuff in it,” he said. “It’s actually a really cool, rich book that you could read multiple times and still get something out of.”

A trip to Cutchins’ office would lead you to believe he’s taken Melville’s words, “I try all things, I achieve what I can,” to heart. His office walls are lined with thousands of books, from Native American History to hefty anthologies, plus a sizeable stack of VHS tapes, and DVDs. In the first five minutes of chatting with Dennis he showed me his collection of vintage toys: Planet of the Apes, a Borg Ship, and handheld video games to name a few, plus a Freddie Mercury painting that launched him into a rendition of Queen’s “I Want To Break Free.”

Cutchins’ lightheartedness and insightful nature are just some of the things he’ll bring to the table when he officially steps into his role as Associate Director of the Honors Program this fall. He is a self-proclaimed “learning nerd” who hopes to draw students to the program with his big vision for program development.

One of Cutchins’ plans is to continue to foster the interdisciplinary environment of the Honors Program. “My natural inclination is toward interdisciplinarity,” he said.

Cutchins has spent the greater part of his career steeped in interdisciplinary research. He specializes in Adaptation Studies, which combines film and literature and history. As a child, Cutchins vividly remembers watching a cartoon adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and being disappointed. “From a fairly early age I realized that there was a relationship there and that it was complicated,” he said.

A study of that relationship, what is now known as Adaptation Studies, came into being during Cutchins’ career. “It fun to get in on the ground floor,” he said. Since the start of his career, Cutchins has published dozens of papers and contributed to multiple books on the subject.

Going forward, Cutchins also hopes to draw in students from across the university. “I would love to see Honors arts students hanging out with Honors engineering students and figuring out ways to do projects together,” he said. In Winter 2019, Cutchins is slated to teach an Honors Unexpected Connections course alongside microbiology and molecular biology professor Dr. Brian M. Poole. These classes are aimed at helping students see connections between opposing disciplines.

Cutchins hopes to attract other “learning nerds” to the Honors Program and offers the following advice to anyone considering enrolling: “If you want to be in a place surrounded by the most innovative professors, the most innovative students, and the most inspiring learners, it’s Honors.”