By The Keystone Newspaper He loves to mentor students and research lesser-known poets
By Allison Sattler
Dr. Robert Fillman is an English professor at KU who loves to share his passion for English with his students. Some of the classes he teaches include Effective Composition and American Modernism.
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Dr. Fillman graduated from William Allen High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and continued his education at Moravian College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in English and Business Management. Dr. Fillman then pursued a master’s in English literature at Arcadia University, following up with his Ph.D. from Lehigh University. Dr. Fillman confessed that Lehigh was his favorite, as it was the most challenging, but each place of study holds a special place in his heart.
When it came time to find a teaching position, Dr. Fillman chose KU because it was close to his home and family, and he had heard good things about the English department including its positive reputation. He said that his favorite thing about being at KU is the staff that he works closely with and being a mentor to students, which he finds very rewarding.
Dr. Fillman revealed that teaching American Modernism was his favorite because of its “rich and diverse” work and his passion for modernist poetry and poets, which have been the basis of his research and scholarly published works.
Poet Helene Johnson was the topic of two of Dr. Fillman’s published articles, “‘A solemn tortured shadow’: Helene Johnson’s Traumatic Pastoral” and “Toward an Understanding of Helene Johnson’s Hybrid Modernist Poetics.” Johnson is one of his favorite poets to explore because Dr. Fillman loves recovering information about important, but lesser-known poets, and there is limited research on her work.
However, Dr. Fillman confessed after much agonizing that his favorite poet would still have to be Robert Frost. Frost was the poet who introduced Dr. Fillman to his love of poetry, and who he still relates to in his own poetry.
When he is not teaching, Dr. Fillman is a musician, playing the guitar, piano, and the clarinet. He also enjoys reading, writing, hiking, and being his children’s chauffeur to their numerous after school activities. Dr. Fillman talked fondly of his children. His daughter, Emma, who is 13, is the “stereotypical first child,” having a take-charge attitude and being dependable, while his son, Robert, 11, is the more reserved child until he feels comfortable, at which point he will be silly and fun. Dr. Fillman describes them as both “funny and smart.” His wife, Melissa, of over 17 years, he describes as “down-to-earth” and “empathetic,” and he considers her the person who knows him best.
As a professor and full-time dad, Dr. Fillman has not had the opportunity to travel abroad. When he gets the time, he hopes to visit Italy, Scotland, Ireland, and of course Disney World with his children. However, when asked where he would live if he could be anywhere, Dr. Fillman admitted that he would love to reside in New England because of the prominent seasonal changes that are known to be fickle in Pennsylvania.
In 10 years, Dr. Fillman hopes to continue his career here at Kutztown, and still be doing his research, teaching, and writing.