Johnny Lee Park is a lifelong student of art, history, and language. He has supplemented his English, Graphic Design, and Photography/Printmaking degrees with many years of personal creation and research, while simultaneously taking an avid interest in the ways technology and its effect on societies is portrayed in art.

Following graduation from MTSU and Graduate School at the University of Memphis, Johnny has worked as artist, designer, photographer, and instructor, both freelance and at the university level. His visual works have been featured in Nashville Arts magazine as well as in numerous national and local venues including the Frist Art Museum. Examples of his work can be seen at: eccentricartfoundry.com

Craig Garrett is a writer and educator based in rural Tennessee. His fiction has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Shotgun Honey, and other places. Craig is also an avid fan of classic films and golden-age television. He’s likely in the middle of a The Twilight Zone marathon as you read this.

A 2020 graduate of Cumberland University, Mr. Arnold is excited to return to Lebanon and rejoin the community that means so much to him.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Secondary Education and completed his Master of Arts in History at Grand Canyon University in 2022.

Mr. Arnold’s professional interests focus primarily on early and antebellum American history.  He has previous teaching experience at the high school and middle school level in school districts across the Upper Cumberland area of middle Tennessee.

Mr. Arnold currently works as a Veterans Service Representative with the Veterans Benefits Administration in the Department of Veterans Affairs in Nashville.”

Prior to becoming a higher education faculty member, Dr. Katherine Gilligan taught ten years in the P-12 setting.  She served as a special education teacher in the elementary, middle, high and post-high school levels. Her areas of interest include special education, inclusion, assessment, and literacy. She continues to serve as a special education teacher and teacher leader in Sumner County School System at a middle school.

Dr. Gilligan is actively involved in a variety of professional organizations, including the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), The American Association for Teaching and Curriculum (AATC), and the Mid-Western Educational Research Association (MWERA).

At Cumberland University, Dr. Gilligan teaches undergraduate courses for candidates seeking teacher licensure.  She teaches courses related to literacy.  Dr. Gilligan often presents current research projects at professional conferences.

Dr. Gilligan lives in Sumner County with her husband of 9 years, Thomas.  They have three children, Annalise, Theodore and Bernadette, one dog, two cats, three pigs, seven goats, one cow and nineteen chickens.  

Leslie Haddock-DeHart began teaching Freshman writing courses at Cumberland University in the fall of 2023. She is an award-winning freelance writer with a B.B.A in Marketing, an M.S. in Digital Marketing & Advertising, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and plans to begin work on her Ph.D. in Literature in fall 2024.

She has worked as a weekly columnist for The Orange Leader newspaper, as a Buyer & Merchandise Analyst for Zales Jewelers, as an Enrollment & Advising Specialist for Lee University (assisting in the initial start-up of their School of Nursing), and currently manages her social media sites with over 11K followers. She attends Writers Conferences as a hobby and has attended over twenty conferences, in various cities such as New York, Dallas, Atlanta, and Nashville.

Her hobbies include travel, reading, camping with friends, hiking in the Smoky Mountains, volunteering, and spending time with her family and her Maltese. She loves coffee, Minnie Mouse, and anything pink.