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.