She has served Tusculum in a variety of teaching roles since 2005 and was promoted to associate professor in 2020. Dr. Acker teaches British Literature and World Literature and courses in research, mythology and Shakespeare. Outside the classroom, she has been a member of the university’s General Education Committee since 2018 and vice chair since 2019. She has served as faculty advisor to the English Student Organization since 2017.
“It is no small honor to be chair of English and Languages at Tusculum,” said Wayne Thomas, dean of the College of Civic and Liberal Arts. “These programs have produced some of our most impressive alumni in recent years. Dr. Acker has seen firsthand many exciting ventures in the English and Languages Department and other departments in the college. I know this exciting and healthy culture will continue under her leadership.”
Among the alumni who have earned a degree from Dr. Acker’s department is Justin Phillip Reed, who won the National Book Award for poetry in 2018. Other students and alumni have consistently enjoyed seeing their various forms of writing published.
Dr. Acker is a Johnson City native who has also taught at other higher education institutions in the region. She taught English, art appreciation and Latin to seventh and ninth grade students for two years at Tri-Cities Christian Schools. She was also the librarian there for four years, teaching library and research skills and creating and implementing a reading incentive program.
“Tusculum’s English program has excelled at preparing its students to be career-ready professionals in a variety of fields, and I am excited to build on that tradition,” Dr. Acker said. “We are a close-knit community with outstanding teachers, and we provide students with hands-on learning so that they can see how the skills we teach can be useful in different professions. I look forward to continuing to serve these students who are so ambitious and creative.”
Dr. Acker holds a bachelor’s degree from Milligan College, a master’s degree from East Tennessee State University and a doctorate from the University of Tennessee, all in English. Her concentration for her doctorate was in Renaissance Literature and rhetoric, and her dissertation was titled “Identity and Divinity: Self-Knowledge and Sanctification in 16th- and 17th-Century Literature.”
She is a member of the Mythopoeic Society, which helps her further explore her interests in modern fantasy and its mythic roots.
For more information about the university and the English and languages programs, please visit www.tusculum.edu.
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