Full Name: Sheryl Cunningham

Hometown: Edon, OH is where I grew up. I’ve also spent a lot of time in Athens, OH and Seattle, WA.

Siblings: 1 brother

Pets: 2 cats, Harlan and Oswald

Favorite Color: Hard to say, probably green

Favorite Food:  Cheese. I love cheese. All kinds…well maybe not all kinds. I was in France a few years ago and smelled what I thought was “dead animal” smell.  I asked my friend, who had been living in France for months, what the smell was. Her answer? It’s cheese.

Favorite Band/Type of Music:. Lately, I’ve been listening to Beirut a lot, but I love bluegrass—the Be Good Tanyas and Abigail Washburn. Also: Radiohead, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Tom Petty, The Arcade Fire…. I’ll stop there.

Favorite Book: Impossible to answer! Over the past few years I’ve been enjoying novels by Haruki Murakami—Sputnik Sweetheart, A Wild Sheep Chase, Norwegian Wood, to name a few.  Murakami often has a similar protagonist in his novels, but somehow he still tells interesting stories. I really love Kurt Vonnegut too, and his book Slaughterhouse Five made me think about the world in a new way. Oh and Charles Dickens… In college I hated reading Dickens, but somehow I have developed a liking for him over the last few years. Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend are my favorites. I have to add Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness too. My non-fiction love goes to Ed Abbey’s Down the River and poetry to Steve Scafidi’s Sparks from a Nine Pound Hammer and For Love of Common Words. Finally, best book of short stories: Amy Hempel’s Reasons to Live.

Favorite Movie: I’ll keep it simple this time: Amelie, Edward Scissorhands, and The Big Lebowski.

Favorite Sport & team (to watch):  Volleyball and Baseball. I’m sure the Wittenberg Tigers will soon become my favorite team to watch. Professionally—The Cleveland Indians and any beach volleyball.

One thing you can’t get enough of:  Coffee

One Pet Peeve:  Wet sock! When there’s water on the floor in places there shouldn’t be and I get a wet patch on my sock I am instantly irritated.

Can you speak another language?: A very little bit of Spanish.

Dream Vacation:  Tour of Europe. I watch too much “Rick Steves’ Europe” on PBS.

One thing you want to do before you die:  Figure out a way to produce sustainable energy in my living space, like build a windmill or something.

Biggest Fear:  Sharks, Bats and the dark—all irrational!

Three adjectives to describe yourself: Responsible, Intelligent, Fun

Pop or soda?:  Pop

Dogs or cats?: Both. My dad is a veterinarian. I have cats because they’re more low maintenance than dogs.

McDonalds or Burger King?:  Neither. No fast food for me.

Coffee or Tea?: Coffee! Tea is okay too; I really like mint teas. But coffee is an every day drink for me.

Thing you are most excited about Wittenberg: I really love teaching and am looking forward to the Topics in Rhetoric class in the fall.  I’m also very excited to be teaching at a small liberal arts school like Wittenberg.  I went to a small liberal arts college for my undergrad and had great experiences there. I much prefer the student- faculty ratio at a place like Wittenberg than at the big state schools where I’ve taught in the past. I’m also an American politics junkie and Ohio is a crucial state—so I’m excited to be in Ohio for the political madness of the upcoming general election. 

~Thanks to Sarajane Stofac for all of her help with this!