Senior Lecturer of Organizational Behavior, Questrom School of Business
Research Areas: Environmental history; transcendentalism; the relationship between culture and pedagogy; the intersection of people, planet, and profit within American history; experiential education
Dr. Paul J. Hutchinson is a Senior Lecturer at Boston University Questrom School of Business teaching in both the undergraduate and MBA programs. Hutch has worked with over 50,000 participants in teambuilding and leadership programs since he began practicing experiential education in 1996. Hutch’s recent professional work has focused on utilizing emerging technologies to enhance experiential learning, from GPS-based urban adventures to virtual teambuilding on-line.
Throughout his career, he has facilitated the development of effective team processes for professional managers and executive teams from industry and nonprofit organizations. He has led backcountry, challenge course, and urban teambuilding programs throughout the United States and Europe. He is a Leave No Trace Master Educator, has extensive training in wilderness medicine, vertical rope work, and has been trained by the National Cave Rescue Commission. He is the Experience Based Training and Development Liaison for the Northeast Region of the Association for Experiential Education and has presented at national and regional conferences including: the Association for Experiential Education, the Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference, the Association for Challenge Course Technology, the American Camp Association, the American College Personnel Association, the National Orientation Directors Association, and the National Association of Campus Activities. He is also a Lead Instructor for Outward Bound-Professional.
Hutch earned his Ph.D. in American and New England Studies at Boston University. His dissertation, Crafting an Outdoor Classroom: The Nineteenth-Century Roots of the Outdoor Education Movement, argues that the pedagogy of experiential education resulted from changing perspectives on youth and wilderness in nineteenth century America. His research interests include environmental history, transcendentalism, the relationship between culture and pedagogy, and the intersection of people, planet, and profit within American history.
Selected Publications:
“Thompson Island: An Island Republic of Youth” in Schooldays in New England, 1650-1900. The Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife Annual Proceedings, 2015.
“Wilderness Settlements: Early Twentieth Century Outdoor Education at the North Bennett Street Industrial School.” Journal of the North End Historical Society, 1(1), 2012.
For a detailed academic bio and CV, please see Professor Hutchinson’s Department Profile.