Dr. Desirae Matherly, associate professor of English, has been named Chair of the newly-formed English & Fine Arts Department at Tusculum University.
Since her arrival at Tusculum University in 2009, Matherly has taught a wide-range of literary nonfiction, journalism, literature and composition courses. She has continued to publish essays with reputable presses and presented research at national and international conferences.
She currently has a book under contract with a major university press and was recently short-listed for the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship.
Dr. Desirae Matherly
“Desirae is a student favorite,” said Wayne Thomas, dean of the College of Civic & Liberal Studies. “Her classes are amongst our most popular. She has great energy. She’s detail-oriented and idea-driven. Our programs in English and fine arts programs will grow in positive ways under her leadership.”
Dr. Matherly has served in numerous capacities at Tusculum. She oversaw the university’s Journalism and Professional Writing program. She chaired the Programs and Policies Committee and sat on the Institutional Review Board. For the past nine years, Dr. Matherly has served as nonfiction Editor for the university’s national literary journal, “The Tusculum Review.”
She received a B.A. in philosophy and English from East Tennessee State University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in creative writing from Ohio University. Directly before coming to Tusculum, Dr. Matherly was a Harper Fellow at the University of Chicago, where she taught in the Collegiate Humanities Division.
Her essays have appeared or been anthologized in “After Montaigne: Contemporary Writers Cover the Essays,” “Red Holler: An Anthology of Contemporary Appalachian Literature” and “The Best Creative Nonfiction, Volume 2.”
Dr. Matherly is currently working on a new project, “Welcome to Pangea,” which explores similarities between her Appalachian home and the Icelandic Highlands. She recently moved to Greeneville from Johnson City with her son Sullivan.