Paul Hutchinson

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.

Education

• PhD, Boston University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2015
• MS, Minnesota State University - Mankato, 2001
• BA, Gettysburg College, 1998

Selected Publications

• Hutchinson, P. (2018). "Thompson Island: An Island Republic of Youth", Historic Deerfield
• Hutchinson, P. (2017). "Summer Camps: The White Mountain Roots of an Iconic American Institution", Plymouth State University
• Hutchinson, P. (2012). "Wilderness Settlements: Early Twentieth Century Outdoor Education at the North Bennett Street Industrial School", Journal of the North End Historical Society, 1 (1), 71-86

Selected Research Presentations

• Hutchinson, P. Demystifying Corporate Facilitation: How to Transform Your Facilitation for the Next Stage, Association for Experiential Education International Conference, Spokane, Washington, 2019
• Hutchinson, P. Tribal Lessons: Representations of Native American Culture in Summer Camp and Outdoor Education, New England American Studies Conference, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, 2019
• Hutchinson, P. Demystifying Corporate Facilitation: How to Transform Your Facilitation for the Next Stage, Northeast Regional Conference, Association for Experiential Education, Becket, Massachusetts, 2019
• Hutchinson, P. Emerson, Monadnock, and the Birth of the Summer Camp Movement, Amos Fortune Forum, Amos Fortune Forum Committee, Jaffrey, NH, 2017
• Hutchinson, P. Rugged Communalism, Museum of the White Mountains Gallery Talk, Museum of the White Mountains, Museum of the White Mountains, Plymouth, NH, 2017
• Hutchinson, P. Summer Camps: The White Mountain Roots of an Iconic American Institution, Association for Experiential Education Northeast Regional Conference, Association for Experiential Education, Becket, NH, 2017

Awards And Honors

• 2019, Faculty Member Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity
• 2017, President's Award, Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center
• 2017, Honorary Scarlet Key Award, Boston University Alumni Association
• 2013, Mike Gessford Person in Charge of Unlocking Potential (PICOUP) Award, Association for Experiential Education Northeast Region