Dr. Jolly Kay Sharp enjoys reading and teaching about Flannery O'Connor, American literature, Southern literature, and dystopian literature for both undergraduate and graduate English classes. Her highlights involving Flannery O'Connor include research with primary sources at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Georgia; having Mercer University Press publish her book about O'Connor; and presenting a paper on O'Connor at the International Flannery O'Connor and the Mystery of Place Conference in Dublin, Ireland. Her latest international adventure was with another professor escorting UC students to Dublin, Ireland in May 2018 and being able to teach students about the Irish poet Seamus Heaney.
Dr. Sharp's favorite hobbies are reading, teaching Sunday School, and counted cross-stitching. She appreciates the influence and the impact that Cumberland College/University of the Cumberlands has had on her life and hopes that she has had positive influence of the lives of many of her students.