FIYou: James Sutton

Name: James (Jamie) Sutton

Hometown: Kalamazoo, Mich.

Job Title/Department: Associate Professor and Chairperson, English Department

Campus: Modesto A. Maidique Campus

In a nutshell: I currently wear two hats at FIU: As a professor, I teach Renaissance English literature – Shakespeare and his contemporaries, including my personal favorite, Spenser. I also conduct research on matters of Elizabethan and Jacobean culture, focusing on the intersection of literature, architecture and design, and political life. As chair, I oversee and help to coordinate the undergraduate major and graduate programs in literature, linguistics, and creative writing. I serve the needs of 45 full-time faculty, 50+ adjunct faculty and many TAs working at both Biscayne Bay Campus and Modesto A. Maidique Campus. I also represent the interests of thousands of English majors, past, present and future. Thankfully, I have generous and patient colleagues, bright, hard-working students and a fabulous office staff.

Number of years at FIU: 15

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The interaction with students, both in and out of class. I consider it a good day – and there are many of them – when the intellectual give-and-take with students has been truly spirited and energized. I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I consider that, fundamentally, my job entails reading, discussing and exploring Renaissance literature with my students.

What do you think faculty/staff and students should know about your department?

President Rosenberg often remarks that, “Every student counts.” In the English Department we have long understood what this means and we attempt to live up to the aspirational goal implied by the aphorism. Whether in our classrooms or our offices, in our hallways or online, we in English labor, with intention and purpose, to make every student count. This means that, simultaneously, we listen carefully to our students’ stories/accounts and we hold them accountable for doing their best work.

Where is your favorite spot on campus? Why?

The GC Fountain. When the weather is fine, and the sun not too intensely bright, could there be a better space to dwell, alone or with a colleague or a few students, conversing and watching the hum of campus life? It’s a near perfect mix of water, greenery and artful design: an ideal gathering place or reflective spot.

What is one thing you wish everyone knew about FIU?

That striving for excellence typifies what we do and who we are. Many of our faculty are remarkable scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and our students are clever, curious, and often very determined. In 15 years at FIU, many of my students have been as intelligent and thoughtful as those I encountered while I was a graduate student at Michigan and Yale.

Family snapshot:

I have been joyfully married to my wife, Alexandra, for 15 years. We have been blessed with two splendid (and exhaustingly energetic and inquisitive) young sons, Alexander and Nicholas.

Word that best describes you: Optimistic.

First paying job: Caddying at the local country club…or was it raking leaves, shoveling driveways and mowing the lawns of my neighbors?

Favorite TV show: Sports, especially any event involving a professional team from Detroit or the Michigan Wolverines.

Your proudest accomplishment:

Other than the birth of my two boys, either the publication of my first book or the planting of several trees in my front and back yards.

What do you do when you are not working at FIU?

I spend lots of time with my children. I enjoy traveling with my family and fine dining and conversation with my wife and friends.