Gottheim was born December 3, 1936. He attended a high school for music and the arts.[1]
Gottheim went to
Oberlin College for undergraduate studies, where he became interested in poetry and fiction. He earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature at
Yale University.[1][2]
Career
Gottheim became a faculty member at
Binghamton University, where he began teaching literature. He purchased a
Bolex camera and began learning how to make films.[1] In 1969 Gottheim brought filmmaker
Ken Jacobs to Binghamton, and they established a film department, the first in the
SUNY system.[3] His Elective Affinities series, named after
the novel by
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is a collection of four films: Mouches Volantes, Four Shadows, Tree of Knowledge, and Natural Selection.