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Charlie Agnew is a Professor of Art. He has an MFA with in emphasis in Painting, from the University of Memphis, and a BA, in Fine & Studio Arts, from Bluefield College in Bluefield, VA.

His creative works includes: The Forest Experience Series: “The way I create the nature paintings came to me after seeing a pine branch that had fallen in a storm.  Contemplating on the needles blowing in the wind made it apparent that the only way to capture the true ‘forest experience’ was to use parts of it to create art. The Forest Experience in my painting represents the spirit and essence of being surrounded by nature. Using actual forest materials in my work captures the sensation of the feeling of the forest.”

His Calligraphic Line Series has its origins in some assignments that deal with line. It also stems from a deep love of calligraphy. Combining these two experiences, a series of artworks were created that connect to one another. “Further inspiration for this series was an exhibition I saw at the Drawing Center in New York by the Royal Art Lodge, where they had a single line that connected a room full of drawings.” The goal of the Calligraphic Line Series is to create many drawings that connect to one another.

Professor Agnew has taught courses on Drawing, Painting, Photography, Art Appreciation, and Perspectives on Art.

Luke Buffenmyer is an Assistant Professor of Art, and Graphic Design and current Department Chair for Art. He earned a BFA in Fine Arts, from the Rhode Island School of Design, and an MFA from Syracuse University, School of Visual and Performing Arts.

His creative work and background interests are painting, drawing, photography, and design. Professor Buffenmyer has taught courses including Typography, Introduction to Graphic Design, Package Design, Advanced Design, Web Design, Senior Portfolio & Exhibition, Introduction to Computer Art, and Digital Photography & Criticism.

As a visual artist and designer, he works in a variety of mediums including painting, drawing, photography printmaking, and digital imaging. Working concurrently on multiple projects, often combining various media, his paintings, drawings, and photographs have been shown in many venues including the Macon Museum of Arts and Science, Illges Gallery, Columbus State University, Museum of Contemporary Art, the Everson Museum of Art, Lightwork, Boston Center for the Arts, Hera Gallery and NK Gallery.

Dr. Yookyoung Choi is an Assistant Professor of Art History. She received her MA in Art History from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a P.h.D. in Art History from the University of Maryland, College Park, writing her dissertation titled Globalization and Ethnic Identity in the Art Works of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Yong Soon Min, and Nikki S. Lee. Her research focuses on the ways in which Korean American artists negotiate their hybrid cultural identities in the contemporary world. She taught a wide range of art history courses including Modern and Contemporary Art, Contemporary Asian Art, Contemporary Korean Art, and Asian American Art at the University of Oregon, Middle Tennessee State University, and Sam Houston State University. She published an article titled "The Phantomic "We": Mapping the DMZ by Yong Soon Min" in Korea Journal in Spring 2024. Joining 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø in Fall 2024, Dr. Choi teaches Perspectives in Art, Art Appreciation, and Art History Survey I and II.

Shannon A. Riddle is an Assistant Professor of Art. He earned a MFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD-Atlanta), a BFA in Painting from the University of Georgia, and an Associate of Art from the former Macon State College.

His creative interests are Fandom, male identity, queer culture, and Art History. Courses that he’s taught include Drawing, Painting, and Art Appreciation. His personal interests are live music, piano, cosplay, fandom, dolls/figures/toys, and nostalgia.

Kimberly Riner, Assistant Professor of Ceramics & 3D Arts at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø, received her MFA from Georgia Southern University in Sculpture with an emphasis in ceramics.

Riner creates ceramic sculptures and installations using ancient media in a contemporary manner. Her artwork is rooted in art history, specifically inspired by the 17th century still life genre Vanitas. Riner's research is focused on mortality, using the iconography of the Vanitas paintings and recontextualizing the symbols to create mixed media installations.

Riner has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and is held in private collections. Exhibition venues include Stetson University, DeLand, FL; Central College of Florida, Ocala, FL; Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL; Artfields, Lake City, SC; Lyon College, Batesville, AR; Sheffield Hallam University, and Sheffield, England.

Parinaz Valinezhad is an Assistant Professor of Art, Graphic Design. She received her MFA in Graphic Design from Indiana University Bloomington and holds her bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from Shariaty Technical College in Tehran, Iran.

Her practice involves digital design, branding/identity design, graphics, animation, 3D design, advertisement, typography, and more, diving deep into each project's needs in order to provide the best suitable design solution. Her main focus on her work is Minimalistic Design which every element serves a purpose; it's clean, simple, and usable.

Her works have been published internationally in London magazines, and she received a Silver Award in Graphis Competition in New York. Professor Valinezhad has taught Graphic Design Intro, Color Theory, and Intro to Computer Arts.

Dr. Rebecca Lanning is the Director of Vocal Studies, and music history. A versatile musician, Dr. Lanning received degrees in voice and continued with graduate studies in music history at Ohio University: and arts policy studies at Valdosta State University. She has done extensive research in the relationship between the arts, the academy, and the educational social contract. Dr Lanning is the leading scholar of American composer, Kathleen Lockhart Manning. For her research she received the John Houk Research Grant. She has been authorized to write the first official biography of Ms. Manning, using primary documents entrusted to her by Manning’s family. Other research areas include private/public artistic partnerships, the relationship between arts education and the contemporary cultural economy, and music entrepreneurship. An active choral conductor, Dr. Lanning has presented choral master classes and clinics throughout Georgia. She was the recipient of an Outstanding Teaching Award in 2010, as well as the American Patriot Award from the US Army Reserves in 2009 for outstanding service to veterans in her classroom. 

Professor Gaffney has a degree in Music Production and Recording Arts from Elon University and a Film Music Composition from UNC School of the Arts. He has had a lifelong interest in teaching and is excited about “Those Who Call,” his first full-length feature film scheduled to be released on Crackle TV. Professor Gaffney is also scoring music for his second feature film, “Aged”, a current work in progress.

Dr. Giuliano Graniti regularly performed in Europe, Asia, and the United States as both soloist and chamber musician, with recitals in international concert halls. His recoding, for Klavier Music Production, features John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music, with the CCM Wind Symphony conducted by Dr. Kevin Holzman. ​A music recording of his doctoral project, an arrangement for piano of Prokofiev's Symphony no. 5, is in schedule for the near future. ​

His activity as a scholar covered piano pedagogy and literature. He regularly presented at local and national conferences about various topics. Dr. Graniti was also interested in the potential of the internet technology for helping college level piano education. Using advanced and preferably non-mainstream technology applied to the class piano instruction was one of his primary research areas, with the goal of contributing to create a system with improved access, content, and durability, and aiming for student inclusiveness and technological sustainability. He is the inventor of the patent-pending Piano OpenLab, a Linux virtual piano lab infrastructure for improved, innovative, and sustainable group piano instruction.

​He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, and Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy in Italy and Switzerland.

Assistant Professor of Music and electric trombonist, Dr. Justin McAdara, has had a diverse career including real estate, insurance marketing, nonprofit, and professional musician. Hailing from southern California, Dr. McAdara received his Doctorate in Jazz Performance in 2020 from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana. His dissertation focused on his invention, The InfiniSphere, which is the first trombone designed specifically to be used with electronics. While at the University of Illinois, Dr. McAdara also founded his nonprofit organization, Music Defying Boundaries, that is dedicated to engaging individuals with experimental and improvised music through education, performance, and documentation.  He currently serves as the Music Program Coordinator here at MGA.

Dr. McAdara has had the pleasure of performing with several groups including The Pacific Symphony, Holland America Cruise Lines, Adam Rudolph’s Go Organic Orchestra, The Everyone Orchestra, and Renee Baker’s Chicago Modern Orchestra. Most recently, Dr. McAdara performed at The Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York with Russell Gunn’s Royal Krunk Jazz Orchestra which included special guests, Jazzmeia Horn, Steffon Harris, Leon Timbo, Jessica Care Moore, Craig Harris, Miles Griffith, Oliver Lake, and Weedie Braihmah.

Dr. McAdara is an endorsed artist with Best American Craftsman out of Kansas City, Missouri.

Dr. Maritza Bell-Corrales is a native of Colombia. Dr. Bell-Corrales is currently a Professor of Spanish. She earned a BA in Language Education/Second Language Acquisition from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín, Colombia. After living abroad in Saudi Arabia and Brunei, Dr. Bell-Corrales earned an MA in Applied Linguistics/Second Language Acquisition from the University of South Florida in August 1996, and a Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics/Second Language Acquisition from the University of Florida.

Dr. Bell-Corrales has presented at numerous national and international conferences, symposiums and seminars, and has published articles, the most recent of which included:  “’ Ya pa’ que dijo la lora’ paremias con estructura de cita en la práctica discursiva y la interacción” at the XI International Linguistic Conference in Havana, Cuba in November 2018; “Dos posibles interpretaciones a la trama de “La última niebla” y su simbología como elemento de enlace” published in ‘Aportaciones eruditasy literarias en homenaje a Gregorio C. Martin, Book Masters Inc., Ashland, OH 2016; Una ecología del dialecto gallego, New Kensington Greeling Press, Pittsburgh, PA 2015 ; La violencia femenina en la ciudad en “Rosario Tijeras”: un an álisis socio-linguístico at the Conference for the Hispanic Association for Humanities, Seville, Spain in June 2009, published in El español integrador de cultura, Orbis Press, 2012; Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Hispánica de Humanidades, Madrid, Spain, June 2006; Estudio Morfosintáctico de Refranes Españoles desde la Perspectiva de la Gramática Verbal at Congreso Internacional de Fraseología y Paramiología, Santiago de Compostela, Spain in September 2006; Negative Feedback in Second Language Instruction:  The Effect of Structured Versus Open-ended Tasks; presented at The Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, at the University of Kentucky in October, 2002 and A Qualitative Analysis of Student Responses to Negative Feedback in L2 Spanish, presented at the Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as First and Second Languages, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in October 2001.

Dr. Bell-Corrales has taught Spanish elementary and intermediate courses as well as Spanish Grammar and Composition, Conversation and Spanish for Business as part of the Minor in Spanish offered in the Modern Language Program. She also taught these courses in the Study Abroad Summer Program in Madrid, Spain, on several occasions as part of the European Council Study Abroad Program.

Yunsuk Chae is a Professor of Spanish. Her educational background is a M.A. and a Ph.D. in Spanish from Vanderbilt University. She has done research in the areas of Baroque and contemporary peninsular Spanish poetry, Spanish pedagogy, and teaching Hispanic culture. She has also translated María Paz Moreno’s poetry. Apart from Hispanic literature and culture, she has done research on the traditional Korean aesthetics in K-Pop music videos. She has taught courses on the Spanish language, Spanish and Spanish-American culture and civilizations, and Spanish literature. In addition, she has taught HUMN 4471, Comparative Cultures. Dr. Chae is passionate about teaching language, literature, and culture and introducing students to new perspectives on the world. She has organized and hosted many co-curricular cultural events, including Mesa de español (Spanish conversation tables), Hispanic Movie Nights, Interdisciplinary Film Series, Spanish competitions, and K-Pop presentations. When she has moments to spare, Dr. Chae likes to read, walk, watch movies, and travel.

Vanessa “Paige” Crump is an Associate Professor of Spanish. She attended Berry College, Georgia Southern University, and Valdosta State University. She holds a BSED and MED in Spanish Education from Georgia Southern University and an ESOL (English as a Second Language) endorsement from Valdosta State University.   She also holds an Ed.S. degree in Teaching and Learning with an emphasis in Spanish from Georgia Southern University. She has 24+ years of teaching experience that ranges from K-5 and 9-12 Spanish and ESOL, adult literacy, college-level Spanish and ESOL, online Spanish, and even Immigration Spanish for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. She has studied in San José, Costa Rica and Segovia, Spain, while completing her Bachelor's, Master’s, and Specialist's Degrees.

She is member of multiple organizations including the Foreign Language Association of Georgia, GATESOL, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Lambda Theta, Omicron Delta Kappa, Sigma Delta Pi, ACTFL, and many others. She has presented at multiple conferences for FLAG, the GERA conference, and GATESOL conferences over the years. She works closely with the Foreign Language Workshop that is hosted at MGA each February, and she has built an applied learning relationship with the Gifted Students at Wheeler Country Middle School by writing and publishing bi-lingual books with SPAN 2001.

In 2014, she was awarded the “Outstanding Student Researcher Award” by GERA for her Ed.S. thesis entitled “A Comparison of Student Achievement in Second Language Acquisition in both Total Online and Traditional Classrooms.”.

She teaches a variety of classes including SPAN 1001, SPAN 1002, SPAN 2001, SPAN 2002, HUMN 2151, and HUMN 1009.  She teaches both face-to-face courses as well as online course. Professor Crump lives on a farm with her husband, son, 3 dogs, 5 turkeys, 5 ducks, a gander a rabbit, and a plethora of chickens.  One duck and the gander have become better guard dogs for the farm than the actual farm dog.

She enjoys playing and singing music, beading jewelry, creating artificial flower sprays, writing children's bilingual stories, and traveling to foreign countries. She has a love for the Spanish language and for traveling around Spain.

Trino J. Prados is an Assistant Professor of Spanish, Humanities & Interdisciplinary Studies. His educational background ranges from a M.A, in International Affairs, and a B.A. in Communications. His research and creative work include class development in Black Latin American history & culture. Class development in Immigration. He is an active member of the Foreign Language Academic Advisory Committee for the Board of Regents. Professor Prados has taught Spanish at all levels, Humanities 2151 Special topics, and IDS 4020 Political Science & Culture.

Dr. Sabrina Wengier is an Professor of French and Interdisciplinary Studies. She earned a Ph.D. in Romance Languages, from the University of Miami, a M.A. in Comparative Literature, from Florida Atlantic University, a M.A. Langues, Littératures et t civilisations étrangère: spécialisation anglais, Université Lumière Lyon 2 (France) B.A. Langues, Littératures et t civilisations étrangère: spécialisation anglais, Université Lumière Lyon 2 (France). Her research interests are in 19 ^th century French literature and its intersection with the arts, second language acquisition, and pedagogy. She currently serves as the Coordinator for Modern Language and Interdisciplinary Studies. 

Professor Wengier has taught courses at all levels of French, IDS 4040 Madness, Literature, and Culture, and IDS 3800 Methods in Interdisciplinary Studies. She has traveled and taught extensively with the study abroad program.

She enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 kids, reading, watching Netflix, embroidery, and traveling.

Zardosht Afshari is an Iranian filmmaker whose short films have been screened internationally at film festivals in the U.S., Iran, Poland, Croatia, India, and Italy. Professor Afshari has an MA in dramatic literature from the University of Tehran in Iran. In 2019, he moved to the United States and got his MFA in Film and Media Arts from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA where he was a TA, adjunct professor, and instructor of records for film and media courses. Some of his favorite filmmakers include Asghar Farhadi and Richard Linklater.

He is a recipient of the 2023 Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab fellowship. His short film, An Endoscopy, premiered at the BlackStar Film Festival – The Academy Awards® Qualifying festival for Shorts – in August 2023 with the opportunity for distribution on the Xfinity channel.

Professor Afshari's courses include Introduction to Media Production, Fiction Film Production, and Perspectives on Society and Film.

Dr. Patrick S. Brennan, Ph.D. is the Professor of English (Specialty in Film) at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø. He earned his B.F.A. from New York University, in Film and TV Production. He then earned his M.A. from the University of Florida, and his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. His research and creative work background/interests include Film History, Film Analysis, Film Theory, Film and Literature, Film and Society, Cultural Studies Theory. Courses taught by Dr. Brennan include HUMN 1002, NMAC 4001, NMAC 4002, NMAC 4481, NMAC 4482, IDS 4030, HUMN 3010. His personal interests include movies, international travel, and all things horror.

Rebecca Edwards is a Senior Lecturer at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø. Her educational background includes: B.S. Macon State College; Communication M.S. Florida State University; Media and Communication with graduate certificates in Digital Media/Sports Production. The courses she’s taught include Introduction Media Production, TV News Broadcasting, Sports Broadcasting, Fiction Film Production, Digital Storytelling, Documentary Film Production, Sports Documentary Production, Internships.

Professor Rebecca Edwards holds a Master of Science degree in Media and Communication from Florida State University along with graduate certificates in Digital Media/Sports Production. She teaches communication and film production classes on the Cochran campus, oversees student broadcasting internships, and is involved with the Georgia Film Academy. Having lived in Los Angeles, CA and worked in the TV and Film industry for over two decades, she brings hands on experience into her classes like Introduction to Media Production, Documentary Film Production and TV News Broadcasting. She has three sassy cats, enjoys watching movies, collects movie posters and spends her free time watching sports. An avid baseball fan, she is currently working on visiting every Major League Baseball Park and has visited 19 of the 30 MLB parks so far.

Sheree Keith is a professor of Communication Studies and Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Letters. She holds a BA and an MA in Communication Studies from Texas Tech University and a PhD in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa. Her area of research includes social movements, specifically the suffrage movement, persuasion, and gender studies. She currently teaches Media Criticism, Communication Theory, and a graduate class on Rhetoric. In her free time, she likes to read (Stephen King is her favorite!), and watch movies with her family.

Andre Nicholson is a Professor of Media and Communication. He is the program coordinator for the Master of Arts in Public Relations program, and he teaches courses in public relations and journalism, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Professor Nicholson earned his Ph.D. from Howard University after retiring from the U.S.A.F.  He has research interests in the media's influence and portrayal of people of color, particularly in news reporting. He's done research on media ownership, social media use, and media literacy. 

Dr. Nicholson considers himself a “foodie” and enjoys trying different restaurants whenever possible.  He lives by one simple moto: "Sing, like no one is listening; Dance, like no one is watching; and Love, like you've never been hurt."