Creative Projects
(I get bored. I invent new projects. They exhaust me, but I never regret doing them!)
"American Values Project" (2012)
The American Values Project invited people from all across the country to send in a photo of themselves holding a sign that named their most important value. The collection was curated by Dr. Johnson and Colin Fleck, sponsored by Rhodes College’s Institute for Regional Studies, and featured in gallery exhibitions in Memphis, TN ( at Marshall Arts Gallery) and New York City (at Tally Beck Contemporary). Portions of the collection were also edited into a video available here.
"Working in Memphis: The Documentary" (2013)
Working in Memphis: The Documentary (available to view here) tells the behind-the-scenes stories of Memphis’ Beale Street musicians. Despite bringing in more than $100 million dollars per year to the state of Tennessee, most Beale Street musicians work for poverty wages– or no wage at all– and depend on tourists’ tips for their livelihood.
Shot over two months in the summer of 2013, Dr. Johnson worked closely with up-and-coming producer Adrian Osella to script, edit, and produce this important short documentary.
"Joyful, Joyful, Ode to Memphis" (2014)
Still riding the high of Working in Memphis, Dr. Johnson called several of the musicians featured in that documentary, on December 22, to see if they would be interested in recording a Memphis-themed “holiday” song. In less than 48 hours, more than two dozen musicians, producers, sound engineers, and supporters showed up to finish “Joyful, Joyful, Ode to Memphis,” a celebration of their city and the holiday spirit with an undeniably Memphis flair.
Download the track here and watch the video of the recording session here.
Black Mirror Reflections podcast (2020)
Born in the 2020 pandemic, like many podcasts, Black Mirror Reflections was conceived, produced, edited, and hosted by Dr. Leigh M. Johnson. She invited some of the nation’s most prominent scholars (including Charles McKinney, Thi Nguyen, David Gunkel, Zandria Robinson, Samir Chopra, Roman V. Yampolkiy, Charles Mills, and other) to chat with her abut the moral, political, philosophical, and technological implications of the series Black Mirror.
You can listen to the entire Black Mirror Reflections podcast series on Spotify here.
Hotel Bar Session podcast (2021-present)
Coming off the success of Black Mirror Reflections podcast, Dr. Johnson launched her second podcast project– still going today– Hotel Bar Sessions. The idea that motivated HBS was to create a podcast that recreated the kinds of conversations that academics have at the end of a long conference day at the hotel bar… which is where the really interesting conversations happen.
Dr. Johnson is not only the creator, but also the Editor and Executive Producer of Hotel Bar Sessions. In less than three years, it has become one of the top 4$ most-listened to and downloaded podcasts on the internet.
Online Educational Content (ongoing)
Dr. Johnson has spent the last 4 years developing an archive of stellar online educational that is clear, accessible, and engaging (read: NOT BORING!) Many professors struggled during COVID to adapt their traditional teaching styles to the “pandemic” era, and many are struggling again now to adapt to the new wave of generative AI tools available to students.
Dr. Johnson has developed a comprehensive model for crafting not only top-quality online content, but also for utilizing online content to reinforce what is learned in the traditional face-to-face classroom.
Moreover, she has developed practical (and easy to implement) strategies for helping students (and faculty) navigate the often tricky world of generatiive AI content.
If you’re looking for a smart, innovative, tech-savvy, big-picture thinker for your department, business, or project, please reach out to me for consulting fees or hiring opportunities here.