Departments: MA Faculty

  • Sparrow is a euro-looking woman with hazel eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. She's smiling, looking directly at you, and sitting in front of a poster which is a graphic blues and greens depiction of the Julia Set, a numerical concept related to fractals. Her shawl is hand-knit in the shape of a maple leaf, and if you'd like a link to the pattern, I'd be happy to share that with you.

    Sparrow F. Alden

    Sparrow graduated from Bowdoin College in 1986 with a BA in English Literature and Psychology and from Signum University in 2015 with an MA in Language and Literature.  She is co-owner/builder of a straw bale cabin in the New Hampshire woods with her wife Grace; they are grateful for the technology which keeps them in touch […]


  • Sørina Higgins' dark eyes center this black and white photo in mystery and intrigue; can we tell that she is a poet? She's looking right at us, seeing into our hearts, and responding with a gentle Mona Lisa smile.

    Sørina Higgins

    Sørina Higgins is Editor-in-Chief of the Signum University Press, an instructor in the SPACE program, and a preceptor in the Language and Literature Department. She earned her Ph.D. in English from Baylor University in 2021 with a focus on theatre of the modern occult revival. At Signum, Sørina Higgins heads up the newly-formed Signum University […]


  • Dr. Sara Brown

    Sara Brown

    Sara Brown PhD MSc(Econ) serves Signum University as Language & Literature Department Chair and Thesis Coordinator for the MA Program.  She is a Lecturer and Preceptor within the Language and Literature faculty and has served as an Elected Faculty Member on the Board. Sara also teaches on the Signum Path Program. Sara Brown lives in […]

    Read more: Sara Brown

  • Paul Peterson

    Paul Peterson, a proud native of Minnesota, holds a Ph.D. in Germanic Medieval Studies from the University of Minnesota, where he studied Germanic philology and learned to read every Old Germanic language. He also holds an M.A. in Medieval Icelandic Studies from the University of Iceland. His primary area of specialization is Old Norse language […]


  • Maggie Parke

    Maggie Parke

    Maggie focused on the adaptation processes of event films and fan management (Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, Twilight, His Dark Materials, Narnia, etc.), and her research included working on the sets of Twilight (2008), Captain America (2009), and on the Academy Award shortlisted short, Love at First Sight (2010). She also investigated the gaming industry, researching with Turbine Inc. on The […]


  • Liam Thomas Daley

    Dr. Liam Daley has been on the faculty at Signum University since its inaugural semester, Fall 2011. Liam earned his PhD in English at the University of Maryland, College Park, focusing on literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance – in particular, how the difference between “history” and “literature” changes from the Middle Ages to […]


  • Larry Swain

    Larry Swain

    Larry Swain used to work in IT and libraries after receiving his B.A. in Religion-Greek and Linguistics. After 15 years, he earned an M.A. in Medieval Studies at the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University and then a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His academic work focuses on early medieval preservation and […]


  • Kristine Ainsworth Swank

    Kris Swank is a Preceptor, Lecturer, and Library Coordinator at Signum University. She is also Library Director at Pima Community College–Northwest Campus, Tucson, Arizona. Kris holds a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in Humanities and English, Dana College; and Masters degrees in Library Science (University of Arizona), International Management (Thunderbird), and Language and Literature (Signum […]


  • Jessica O’Brien

    Jessica O’Brien received her MA in Library and Information Science in 2005 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an MA in Liberal Studies (2014), and an MS in Online Teaching and Instructional Design (2016) both from Lenoir-Rhyne University. She is an Associate Librarian and Coordinator of Instructional Technology at Lenoir-Rhyne University where she […]


  • James K. Tauber

    James K. Tauber

    James K. Tauber is a philologist, linguist, and software developer who works with scholars around the world using computers to better understand languages and texts. James is the founder and CEO of Eldarion, a web application development company focused on open source, online education, data science, and humanities. As a scholar he primarily works on […]