For three decades, Charles Euchner has been writing — and teaching — across the curriculum.
Euchner has taught writing-intensive courses in political science (Holy Cross), essay and analytic writing (Yale), writing in architecture and planning (Columbia), and journalism (SUNY-Purchase). Along the way, he also authored and edited business and public policy case studies (Yale and Columbia). He has also held intensive writing seminars for teachers (The Graduate Institute and National Education Association) and a wide range of corporate and nonprofit clients.
Euchner (pronounced IKE-ner) now teaches writing at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.
During the COVID pandemic, Euchner was the principal researcher and author of a book about the strategies of “flipped” learning. The book is expected to be published in 2021 or 2022.
His latest book, The Last Great Debate, is now being shopped by John Silbersack at the Bent Agency. This work provides a dramatic account of Woodrow Wilson’s failed campaign for the League of Nations.
Euchner has also coached authors on their books about American diplomacy, World War I, the history of money and the redevelopment of Boston.
In recent years, Euchner has published a series of books on writing and civil rights. His books on writing — including The Elements of Writing, Keep It Short, Reading and Writing the Essay, Writing About Place, and How to Write a Book — offer a complete system for all genres. He is also author of In Cold Type, a breakdown of the narrative techniques of Truman Capote’s classic In Cold Blood, and Mad Men’s Guide to Persuasion, about the popular TV drama “Mad Men.”
Euchner’s Nobody Turn Me Around (Beacon Press, 2010) offers an intimate account of the 1963 March on Washington. Based on more than 100 interviews and thousands of pages of archival materials, Nobody Turn Me Around offers the only complete study of the only moment when all of the factions of the civil right’s movement gathered in one place, a day capped by Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” oration.
Career Highlights
- Independent researcher: As a one-year fellow at the Center for an Urban Future and a consultant for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Euchner produced major reports on middle-class jobs in New York City.
- Case writer and editor: Yale School of Management.
- College teaching: Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation; Yale University; University of Pennsylvania; Holy Cross College; Northeastern University; St. Mary’s College; and SUNY-Purchase.
- Consulting and seminars: One- and two-day seminars on writing and communication with major consulting and business firms, as well as op[en public forums.
- Seminars and speaking: Seminars on writing across the U.S. Speaking gigs on baseball, the sports industry, the media, writing, public policy, and management. Also a frequent commenter on public affairs on TV and radio.
- University leadership and management: Executive director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard University and associate director of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University.
- Public Service: Coordinator of the comprehensive planning process for the City of Boston.
- Author: Books on public policy, politics, baseball, civil rights, and more.
- Magazine writer: Hundreds of articles in major newspapers and magazines.
- Education: B.A. at Vanderbilt University, M.A. and Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University.