Guttman Community College has been a partner with the CUNY Humanities Alliance since 2020. Guttman, located blocks from the Graduate Center on 41st Street, is CUNY’s newest and smallest community college, enrolling just under 1,000 students. Students at Guttman enjoy access to an innovative First-Year Experience curriculum built around a City Seminar that introduces students to humanistic inquiry through exploration of historical and contemporary urban issues.
Humanities Programming Development
Guttman has a robust calendar of co- and extra-curricular humanities programming occurring throughout the academic year. Fellows may work closely with current Humanities Alliance team members and other campus partners to develop and execute student-facing programs relevant to campus needs. Projects are designed to suit individual interests and may include, but are not limited to, planning and executing Heritage Month and Poetry Month themed events, academic skills workshops, our annual film series, and a campus-wide Big Read program.
Mentored Humanities Experiential Learning
Fellows may be embedded in a course or integrated into ongoing faculty-led campus projects suited to their interests and expertise. Fellows may work closely with faculty to support course design and develop new co-curricular supports as needed. Projects are designed to suit individual interests and may include, but are not limited to, developing student-facing workshops tied to specific courses, conducting pedagogic research with a disciplinary focus, and working with a faculty member to develop or sustain an external partnership for the college.
Guttman CC Partners
2022-2023: Laura Clarke, Assistant Professor, English; Thomas Philipose, Lecturer, English
2020-2022, 2023-2025: Ria Banerjee, Associate Professor, English
HA Projects
During the 2021-2022 academic year, fellows developed and participated in numerous projects at Guttman and beyond. The fellows made a splash on Guttman campus moderating and managing a 3-part bilingual English/Spanish poetry and discussion event for Hispanic Heritage Month in September 2021. In following months, fellows developed and ran several student-facing workshops, rotated an embedded role in the course Introduction to Philosophy and Humanistic Thinking, and took part in the college’s Poetry Month events. In March 2022, fellows helped inaugurate a major HA program, in partnership with the Guttman Library: the inaugural Guttman Big Read, a three-part campus reading and discussion series open to all students, faculty, and staff. We chose to read Cathy Park Hong’s book of essays, Minor Feelings and each session was led by a HA fellow with others providing technical support on a rotating basis. We intend to make this a regular part of our campus events calendar in coming years. In addition, one fellow worked with faculty to recruit and mentor a student journalist for a Pulitzer Center student fellowship program. Another fellow designed and executed a classical music listening and discussion series in conjunction with the New York Public Library. A third fellow provided crucial administrative aid in setting up the college’s Honors Program.
Notes on Campus Culture
Because of its location, small population and building size, and as the newest CUNY college, Guttman feels noticeably different from other CUNY campuses. Fellows note that Guttman faculty are generally remarkably responsive and flexible in collaborating with fellows and supporting their interests, and that the campus provides a strong and positive sense of community.
Advice from fellows for fellows:
- Note that Guttman’s academic calendar is different from the GC’s. Be clear with faculty and staff as needed about each semester’s start and end date at the GC, and communicate that you are not available to work outside of these dates.
- Note that the Business Office may not be able to operate under your ideal timeline for your project. Be prepared to begin conversations with them early, in order to ensure that funds are made available for your project when they are needed.
