Welcome to the Cumberland Dispatch

We cover Cumberland University and the folks who make it what it is -- students, faculty and staff -- as well as Lebanon and other local environs

Hi there! My name is Timothy Davis, and I have been a regular adjunct professor at Cumberland University since 2018. I am the point person/editor for our new newspaper, The Cumberland Dispatch.

The Cumberland Dispatch is an offshoot of these classes:

ENG 19001 Print Media Workshop ENG 39001 Print Media Workshop II This combined class, despite being a mere one hour a week, is designed as a total immersion into Journalism – not from a theoretical point of view, but rather in a practical, hands-on sense. We are creating a new publication, from scratch, for Cumberland University. Students will learn how a paper is put together; how it runs; tips and tricks on writing, editing, and interviewing; journalistic ethics, and more. They will be empowered to create a paper/website that they and their peers would like to read, and one the University may be proud of. With any luck, the paper will live long after those who began work on it have left the University. We are beginning online first, and hope to expand to a small, digest sized publication (4-8 pages, on newsprint) next Fall. For our staff, each week may (will!) look different depending on that week’s needs. This could be anything from writing something for the paper, editing other students’ work, recruiting writers and artists, updating our social media page(s), contacting students/professors/staff or folks outside of the CU community, design and layout, or any number of other things.

With news stories, we aim to provide clarity where there is confusion. With our profiles and columns, we want to tell you about people and places and things you had no idea existed (or previously existed) right here a 1 Cumberland Square. We'll help you to get to know your instructors, and your classmates, and folks you might see around town. We want to provide you with tips on things to do, watch, see and eat. We want to be an ear for your questions and concerns.

We are not out to shock, or titillate, or offer up clickbait. We aim to offer substance and depth in place of blather and platitudes. We have no agenda, other than to educate and entertain.

We hope you enjoy taking this journey with us; for more information, contact tdavis@cumberland.edu

PS: Look for Print Media Workshop I and II on the Fall 2022 schedule of class offerings and join us!

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Instructor’s bio (adapted from CU’s faculty page): Timothy Charles Davis co-wrote, with John T. Edge, Sara Roahen, Sheri Castle and others, The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook (UGA Press). In 2015, The Hot Chicken Cookbook: The Fiery History and Red-Hot Recipes of Nashville’s Beloved Bird (Spring House Press) was published. In its fifth printing, the book has been reviewed or otherwise mentioned in Time, National Geographic, The New Yorker, and Food Republic, and was the subject of a feature on NPR’s Morning Edition. A new book, tentatively titled Cooking with Kindness: A Manual for Mealmaking (Meditations and Exercises for a Meaningful Practice) is under contract with McFarland/Toplight and due in 2022. Davis’ partial publication credits include pieces for Southern Living, Salon.com, Mother Jones, First We Feast, Saveur, Christian Science Monitor, Travel + Life, Harp, Gastronomica and Oxford American. He is a former staff writer and food columnist at Creative Loafing in Charlotte, NC and Weekly Surge/The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, SC. He also contributed as an associate editor to Gravy, the official newsletter of the Oxford, Mississippi-based Southern Foodways Alliance. Davis has been a contributor to several area publications, including the East Nashvillian, Nashville Scene, Edible Nashville, Nashville Lifestyles, and NATIVE. In addition to Cumberland University, he has also taught at Nashville State, Lipscomb University, Volunteer State Community College, and Watkins College of Art, Design + Film.