Affiliated Departments & Programs

A New York native, Peter M. Rutkoff has been teaching at Kenyon since 1971. From 1999-2001 he held the National Endowment for the Humanities Distinguished teaching chair at Kenyon and from 2009-12 he was the Robert Oden Distinguished Professor of American Studies. Together with William B. Scott of the Kenyon history department, Rutkoff developed the North By South course that served as the senior seminar in American studies.

With several colleagues, Rutkoff helped develop the American Studies program, first in 1990 as an interdisciplinary program and since 2002 as an interdisciplinary major. His current scholarly interests include African-American cultural studies and the African-American migrations that are the subject of his new book with Professor Scott, Fly Away; The Great African-American Migrations. He is also the author of several books of fiction including the recently released novel Irish Eyes (2012).

Rutkoff also serves as the executive director of the Kenyon Academic Partnership (KAP), which links the college with a network of thirty secondary schools in Ohio. Students in KAP take dual-credit courses, for high-school graduation and Kenyon transcript credit.

Education

1971 — Doctor of Philosophy from University of Pennsylvania

1965 — Master of Arts from University of Pennsylvania

1964 — Bachelor of Arts from St Lawrence University

Courses Recently Taught

This course introduces students to the major theoretical writings about education—Dewey, Kozol, Ravitch and Freire. We inquire about the "global achievement gap" and "cultural literacy" and interview teachers from a broad range of educational backgrounds — public, private, parochial and charter. The seminar meets weekly and students engage during the week in Moodle discussions about issues raised in the readings. Students also will have a participant-observer experience in a public high school, with an introductory day in early January break and a week-long residency the second week of spring break. Credits given only for attending all components of the course. Permission of instructor required. Junior standing. This interdisciplinary course does not count toward the completion of any diversification requirement.

Individual study is an exceptional opportunity available to junior or senior majors who find that the ordinary course offerings at Kenyon do not meet their needs for the major. Individual study will ordinarily be taken for 0.5 units of credit. Students must have the approval of the department chair in order to apply to enroll in an individual study. Students must present a detailed reading list and syllabus, including a schedule of assignments/projects and due dates, to the American studies faculty member with whom they choose to work. The faculty member who agrees to supervise and direct the individual study will confirm the syllabus and schedule in writing to the director of the program. The student project must culminate in a public presentation.

Individual study is an exceptional opportunity available to junior or senior majors who find that the ordinary course offerings at Kenyon do not meet their needs for the major. Individual study will ordinarily be taken for 0.5 units of credit. Students must have the approval of the department chair in order to apply to enroll in an individual study. Students must present a detailed reading list and syllabus, including a schedule of assignments/projects and due dates, to the American studies faculty member with whom they choose to work. The faculty member who agrees to supervise and direct the individual study will confirm the syllabus and schedule in writing to the director of the program. The student project must culminate in a public presentation.

Individual study is an exceptional opportunity available to junior or senior majors who find that the ordinary course offerings at Kenyon do not meet their needs for the major. Individual study will ordinarily be taken for 0.5 units of credit. Students must have the approval of the department chair in order to apply to enroll in an individual study. Students must present a detailed reading list and syllabus, including a schedule of assignments/projects and due dates, to the American studies faculty member with whom they choose to work. The faculty member who agrees to supervise and direct the individual study will confirm the syllabus and schedule in writing to the director of the program. The student project must culminate in a public presentation.

Individual study is an exceptional opportunity available to junior or senior majors who find that the ordinary course offerings at Kenyon do not meet their needs for the major. Individual study will ordinarily be taken for 0.5 units of credit. Students must have the approval of the department chair in order to apply to enroll in an individual study. Students must present a detailed reading list and syllabus, including a schedule of assignments/projects and due dates, to the American studies faculty member with whom they choose to work. The faculty member who agrees to supervise and direct the individual study will confirm the syllabus and schedule in writing to the director of the program. The student project must culminate in a public presentation.

Individual study is an exceptional opportunity available to junior or senior majors who find that the ordinary course offerings at Kenyon do not meet their needs for the major. Individual study will ordinarily be taken for 0.5 units of credit. Students must have the approval of the department chair in order to apply to enroll in an individual study. Students must present a detailed reading list and syllabus, including a schedule of assignments/projects and due dates, to the American studies faculty member with whom they choose to work. The faculty member who agrees to supervise and direct the individual study will confirm the syllabus and schedule in writing to the director of the program. The student project must culminate in a public presentation.