Faculty School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts

ALENA MEHIC

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Assistant Professor of Art
Work Email: amehic@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: 615-453-6407
Location: Phoenix Plaza, Art Area
Category: Faculty
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
B.F.A., Middle Tennessee State University
M.F.A., University of North Carolina
Bio:

Alena Mehić joined Cumberland University as an Assistant Professor of Art in 2022 and teaches various courses in the Studio Art program, including painting, drawing, and professional development. A study of absence, aesthetic markers, and political relics, her practice focuses on the transformation of national memory and historical revisionism.

Her most recent research endeavors have involved exploring science fiction in the context of post-socialist landscapes and considering how it relates to ideas of hope, utopia, and infrastructural and technological advancement alongside the risks of nuclear war, privacy concerns, and the general unknown.

In 2023, she was a resident at Loghaven in Knoxville, TN and had her work featured in her solo exhibition The Hum at the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh.

C. TREVOR MCMURRAY

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Adjunct Instructor of Criminal Justice
Work Email: tmcmurray@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: 423-383-9025
Category: Adjunct Faculty
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
B.A., King College
M.S., University of the Cumberlands
M.B.A., University of the Cumberlands
Ph.D., University of the Cumberlands
Bio:

Dr. McMurray began his professional career as a patrolman with the Bristol Tennessee Police Department in July 1989. I worked my last semester as a patrolman and graduated in December 1989 from King University. During the summer of 1991, Trevor left the BTPD and started taking accounting classes at ETSU, attending classes from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM each day for 8 weeks. Once classes were over, he began working as an accountant at Jay Construction Company in Abingdon, Virginia. After a year or so, Mr. McMurray was promoted to Manager of Accounting and Data Systems.

After leaving Jay Construction in 1993, Trevor worked as a Staff Accountant in a CPA firm for the next two years. Mr. McMurray had previously interned with this firm while attending a college. When the CPA firm closed its doors and moved to Nashville, he found himself headed to the Virginia State Police Academy as a trooper in September 1996.

Dr. McMurray spent the next two years patrolling Appomattox and Prince Edward Counties in Central Virginia just east of Lynchburg. In 1998, he was promoted to Special Agent Accountant, and for the next three years, Dr. McMurray investigated financial crimes all over Central Virginia.

In August 2001, at 34 years old, Dr. McMurray reported to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy in Brunswick, Georgia. Upon graduation in February 2002, he was assigned to the IRS-CI office in the Bristol Virginia Post of Duty investigating money laundering, tax fraud, public corruption, and other financial crimes. He was promoted in June 2021 and became the Supervisory Special Agent for IRS-CI in Roanoke, Virginia, where he supervised and led six agents in all criminal financial investigations before retiring in April 2022. Dr. McMurray is now employed as a government contractor working for the United States Department of Justice US Attorney’s Office as a Financial Investigator.

Dr. McMurray has taught online classes at Southwest Virginia Community College, Virginia Western Community College, and Cumberland University.

Dr. McMurray holds a PhD in Leadership with a concentration in Justice Administration from the University of the Cumberlands from which he also holds a master’s in justice administration as well as an MBA. His graduate degrees have allowed him the opportunity to teach at the collegiate level and prepare the next generation of patrolmen/women, correction and probation officers, and investigators in the most rewarding and honorable profession known – law enforcement.

In his spare time, Dr. McMurray dons a kilt, and throws heavy objects as a Highlands Games Athlete. He has also added leatherwork and blacksmithing to his hobby list.  A world-class athlete, Dr. McMurray travels and competes all over the United States. He finished second in the Master’s World Championships in both 2019, and 2021.

 

NICHOLAS KRAUSE

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Adjunct Instructor of English
Work Email: nkrause@cumberland.edu
Category: Adjunct Faculty
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
B.A., Colorado State University
M.A., Colorado State University
Bio:

Nich Krause is a doctoral candidate at Middle Tennessee State University, specializing in film theory and the intersections of film and philosophy. He completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in philosophy at Colorado State University, where his research focused on American Pragmatism and pluralistic conceptions of meaning-making. Nich’s current research explores depictions of fat bodes in cinema, especially the ethical questions that arise from the use of fat suits in contemporary film.

In his free time, Nich likes to watch movies, read books, and think about the nature of existence and stuff.

MARK HANSHAW

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Associate Provost and General Counsel
Work Email: mhanshaw@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 547-1224
Location: Memorial Hall, Room 102
Category: Faculty
Department: Office of Academic Affairs
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
B.S., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
LL.M., University of Manchester, (United Kingdom)
M.T.S., Texas Christian University (Brite Divinity School)
J.D., University of Tennessee College of Law
Ph.D., Southern Methodist University
Bio:

Mark Hanshaw is Associate Provost and General Counsel for Cumberland University. Hanshaw has a broad background in serving and supporting higher education institutions. Hanshaw possesses a background in both law and higher education administration. Previously, Dr. Hanshaw served on the Higher Education Team at the national law firm of Steptoe & Johnson.  He additionally led the network of Methodist higher education institutions located across the U.S.

Hanshaw served as the Dean of the School of Arts & Letters at Texas Wesleyan University, in Fort Worth, and has been a part of the teaching faculties of several institutions. As a part of his work within the higher education arena, Hanshaw has led in the establishment of both domestic and global collaborative academic programs and has guided efforts aimed at both program expansion and retention. While at Texas Wesleyan, he led both campus internationalization efforts and online program expansion.

Hanshaw holds a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University, with emphasis in Comparative Ethics.  He also holds a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law and Master’s degrees from the University of Manchester, in the U.K., and Texas Christian University.  He is the author of the text From East to West: A Comparative Study of the World’s Great Religions, as well as a variety of other texts and academic articles.

He was the recipient of the Texas Wesleyan Board of Trustees Award for Scholarship, in addition to other teaching and research awards.  He is a former Rotary International Fellow, having studied at the University of Manchester, and Fulbright-Hays Scholar, having conducted research in India. He has led numerous student travel-study programs, predominantly in South Asia, and was selected to lead an international peace delegation in India, funded by the Rotary International Foundation.

Hanshaw has traveled widely, having visited or lived in more than 80 countries around the globe.   He has led study abroad programs in India, Nepal, Guatemala, Cambodia, Thailand, Turkey and Greece.  In addition to his scholarly interests, he is a runner, an amateur photographer and, most importantly, a dad to both human and K-9 “kids.” He is married and lives in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.

TED EDINGER

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Adjunct Instructor of Art
Work Email: tedinger@cumberland.edu
Category: Adjunct Faculty
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
B.S., Bowling Green State University
M.A.T., University of Idaho, Moscow
Bio:

Ted Edinger moved to Nashville, TN in 1997 to begin his career in Art Education. His work has gone far beyond his classroom. He has worked at the district and state level with curriculum, standards, teacher evaluation, and textbook adoption. He also was selected to represent the state of Tennessee in setting the art education cut score for the national teacher exam. Mr. Edinger has spoken at the National Art Education Association Conference in Fort Worth.

He has also been published several times in School Art Magazine (Davis Publishing). During his career he has been recognized by the Tennessee Art Education Association as the Middle Tennessee Art Educator of the Year & amp; the Elementary Art Educator of the Year. Mr. Edinger has also been recognized numerous times for his work on his art education blog, www.artwithmre.com.

Mr. Edinger lives in Lebanon, TN with his wife (also an educator) and their three children.

DANIELA DORANTES

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Administrative Assistant for Oakley School of Humanities, Education, and the Arts
Work Email: ddorantes@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: 615-547-1331
Location: Memorial Hall, Room 210-A
Category: Staff
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Bio:

Ms. Dorantes joined the staff of Cumberland University in August 2022. She is the administrative assistant for the Oakley School. She lives in Cookeville, TN with her two children. Prior to coming to Cumberland, Daniela worked as a Family Support Specialist providing in home visitations to first time parents sharing activities to promote bonding, milestone screenings, access to community resources, and prenatal/parent support.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, shopping, and exploring new places with her children.

DAYRON DEATON-OWENS

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Adjunct Instructor of Sociology
Work Email: ddeaton@cumberland.edu
Category: Adjunct Faculty
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
B.S., Middle Tennessee University
M.A., Middle Tennessee University
Bio:

Dayron Deaton-Owens is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Sociology at Motlow State Community College. Dayron earned her Master’s degree in Sociology with a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology from Middle Tennessee State University. Dayron earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Middle Tennessee State University.

Dayron has been teaching full-time at Motlow since 2011. Dayron serves as an advisor for the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society and the PTK Alumni Association at Motlow. Dayron is also the Administrator for the McMinnville Tourism Development Board with the City of McMinnville. Ms. Deaton-Owens serves as the Co-chair for Leadership Warren which is a program of the McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce, where she earned the 2021 Volunteer of the Year Award. Dayron is a member of the McMinnville Young Professionals organization, and enjoys spending time with her husband, Daniel, and their fur-babies and loves to travel.

MIGUEL CHAVEZ

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Assistant Professor of History
Work Email: mchavez@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: 615-257-4402
Location: Labry Hall, Room 230
Category: Faculty
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
B.A., University of North Texas
M.A., University of North Texas
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
Bio:

A native Texan, Miguel Angel Chavez joined Cumberland University as Assistant Professor of History in 2022. He received his Ph.D. in History from Vanderbilt University that same year. Before moving to Middle Tennessee, Miguel received his B.A. and M.A. in History from the University of North Texas in 2011 and 2015, respectively.  Before coming to Cumberland, Miguel served as a Teaching Assistant at Vanderbilt and as an Adjunct Instructor of History at North Central Texas College.

Miguel’s research interests focus on the intersection of the History of Science, the British Empire, and the creation and dissemination of geographic knowledge, with emphasis on the history of nineteenth-century exploration and travel writing in the Nile and Africa. Miguel has presented at numerous conferences, including the North American Conference on British Studies and the History of Science Society meetings in 2021.Miguel’s interests beyond his research focus include the history of the ancient world, the history of nationalism, modern European history, the history of Africa and South Asia, and transnational histories.

As both an instructor and person of color, Miguel is eager to help students from underrepresented backgrounds succeed in college. Outside his academic work, Miguel enjoys listening to music in Nashville, reading science fiction novels, and watching movies with his friends.

 

CECILIA LOCKHART

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Adjunct Instructor of Music
Work Email: clockhart@cumberland.edu
Category: Adjunct Faculty
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
B.A., South Carolina State University
M.A., Tennessee State University
Bio:

Cecilia Lockhart a native of Augusta, Georgia, who has lived and worked in Tennessee for 15 years. She joined the Cumberland University faculty in the fall of 2021.

Mrs. Lockhart received her Bachelor’s of Music degree from South Carolina State University. In 2012, she received her Master’s of Music Education from Tennessee State University. Cecilia has been teaching in Lebanon Special School District for 10 years as a choir and band director.

She and her husband, married since 2010, now have four beautiful kids of which all reside locally in the Lebanon community.

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