Andrew Wiley started his work at Cumberland University in January 2018 when the Papers of Martin Van Buren employed him as the new associate editor. His research interests are Civil War Era politics (particularly conservatism), military history, Cold War History, and the history of Baseball. In addition to his editorial work, Dr. Wiley teaches introductory level courses on United States History, occasionally teaches upper-level history courses, and has served as a guest editor for the Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 

Prior to his work at Cumberland University, Dr. Wiley worked as an editorial assistant for the Frederick Douglass Papers in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Civil War History, an academic journal published by Kent State University Press. He is presently revising his manuscript, White Man’s Liberalism, American Conservatism: Race, Economics, and the Origins of Movement Conservatism in Nineteenth-Century Indiana, and is working with a university press on future publication.

When not on campus you can find Andrew Wiley playing guitar, at a baseball game, or touring the numerous historical sites in Tennessee and other surrounding states.

Max Matherne came to Cumberland University in 2021 after earning his Ph.D. in U.S. History from the University of Tennessee, where he graduated with a Chancellor’s Citation of Extraordinary Professional Promise. His areas of expertise include United States political cultures and the early American republic. He is currently revising a book manuscript that will examine the ideological underpinnings of political patronage in the early republic, showing how office-seekers shaped the development of Americans’ two-party system. Support for his work has been provided in the form of fellowships and grants from various institutions, including the American Philosophical Society, the Dirksen Congressional Center, and the Society for U.S. Intellectual History.

Dr. Matherne has organized panels and presented his research at numerous national conferences, such as the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) and the Society for U.S. Intellectual History (S-USIH), serving on the conference committee for the latter organization’s 2021 conference. He has organized multiple public-facing forums for faculty members to discuss the relevance of their research for modern-day political conversations. In the classroom, Dr. Matherne has instructed undergraduate courses on myriad topics, including historical methods as well as both American and European history. He comes to Cumberland University with documentary editing experience dating back to 2014, having previously served as a Research Associate with the Papers of Andrew Jackson.

Outside of his office and the classroom, Dr. Matherne enjoys reading a wide array of books on an equally wide array of subjects. His personal interests include jazz music, literary fiction and film.

A graduate of Cumberland University’s undergraduate history program, Mark R. Cheathem received his M.A. in history from Middle Tennessee State University and his Ph.D. in history from Mississippi State University. After serving as an assistant professor of history at Southern New Hampshire University, he returned to his alma mater and is now a professor of history. Cheathem’s main teaching and research interests focus on Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, nineteenth-century politics, southern history, and documentary editing.

Dr. Cheathem is the author or editor of nine books, including two award winners: Andrew Jackson, Southerner (2013 Tennessee History Book Award) and The Coming of Democracy: Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson (2018 Phi Alpha Theta Best Subsequent Book Award). His most recent book is Who Is James K. Polk? The Presidential Election of 1844. Dr. Cheathem has contributed to national and regional media outlets, including the Washington Post, C-SPAN, NBC News, the Los Angeles Times, CTV News, the Associated Press, Voice of America, the Nashville Tennessean, and History News Network

Since 2015, Dr. Cheathem has been the project director and co-editor of the Papers of Martin Van Buren. Housed in Cumberland University’s Vise Library, this project is producing digital and print editions of the eighth president’s papers.

Along with his research, Dr. Cheathem teaches a variety of courses at Cumberland, including Jacksonian America, the American Presidency, Civil War America, Conspiracy Theories in American History, and Documentary Editing.