Christine Johnson is the visiting assistant professor in Reinhardt University’s Communication (COM) Department. Her resume is extensive – prior to being a tenured professor at State University of New York and an Assistant professor at two other state universities, she’s worked in television production for seventeen years.
Her career started as a Production Assistant for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) until she was promoted to producer in their International Department because of her hard work and fluency in French (she learned Parisian French while growing up in Paris, living right across the street from the Eiffel Tower). Christine later joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and made history by being the first woman to produce live wrestling shows. Since then, she’s worked for The Les Paul Foundation winning a bronze Telly, as well as on some indie wrestling shows before deciding to enroll in Reinhardt to obtain her MFA.
Christine went through some trials and tribulations in the wrestling world. She always dreamed of a place where she could be ‘seen’ and develop her abilities as a writer. As the pandemic gave her more free time to write and consider new opportunities, she began to look into obtaining an MFA at Reinhardt. After falling in love with the faculty and community here, she then pursued a role as a Visiting Professor.
With an expected graduation date of May 2023, and a book she just completed under the mentorship of Professor Dr. Donna Little and William Walsh, Christine is excited to see what’s next.
“The collaborative, open, and giving experience here is amazing. And the fact that you’re appreciated and valued here… I think that’s even better! There’s so much potential for the COM department and I’m so excited,” says Christine. Though Christine is just a Visiting Professor, she expressed how much she would love to stay and teach in Reinhardt’s COM department.
“It’s about the students and what they’re interested in. I try to craft projects around them, not me, so the students are engaged and psyched about what they’re doing. That’s important to me. I’m here until May. But I would be absolutely honored to continue down this path with them permanently. It’s been an unbelievable experience. There’s no ceiling, there are so many things you can do.”
And as if studying for school and being an educator isn’t enough, Christine has something even more exciting in the works… Planning a wedding! She’s set to get married to her fiancé Tom in a very intimate ceremony this September at the King Plow Arts Center. Out of Reinhardt’s MFA program, she became best friends with fellow students Joanna Hill and Cindy Sams. Joanna will be officiating the wedding, and Cindy is writing an original fairytale for the couple that she will read at the wedding.
