Signum University

Departments: SPACE Preceptor

  • Robert Steed is a man of European ancestry dressed professionally in jacket and tie. He has wire glasses which look exactly as though he has had a book open since he was big enough to turn the pages. In fact, he looks a bit startled that we found him back here in some mysterious archives!

    Robert Steed

    Robert Steed holds a PhD in History of Asian Religions (Chinese Religions) from the University of Iowa Department of Religious Studies. He is Professor of Humanities, East Asian Cultures and Religions, at Hawkeye Community College and a lecturer in Asian and World Religions at the University of Northern Iowa. His research and teaching interests extend to East…

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  • Pilar has the widest, sparkling smile! Her shoulder length hair sweeps a beautiful patterned sweater and she is standing in front of an incredible blue bay! Pilar is a native Columbian woman with just the tiniest dignified touch of grey in her shoulder length dark hair. That laughter in her eyes, though! I'll bet her sweet little dog is at her feet as the photo is taken.

    Pilar Barrera

    Pilar loves languages and literature. She is interested in fairy tales, especially Andersen’s, Wilde’s, and Japanese traditional tales. She also enjoys Japanese children’s literature, Old English elegies, and Shakespeare. Pilar has a Certificate of Higher Education in English literature from the University of Oxford, an MA in Literary Linguistics from the University of Nottingham, and…

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  • Keli Fancher is smiling directly at us, wearing his signature straw hat with black band, and a particularly jaunty fuchsia and blue bow tie. His blue shirt has pinstripes of printed edelweis chains and his green eyes and bearded smile somehow convey that he is a really fun dad!

    Keli Fancher

    Keli Fancher is a software developer at RescueTime, Signum’s Dean of Digital Campus, and an amateur YouTuber. Keli’s relationship with Signum began with the original Tolkien Professor podcast feed which led to him joining Signum as an MA student for its second semester several years later. Shortly thereafter Keli began aiding Signum as a class…

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  • Jennifer Rogers is outstanding in her field — literally — with a split rail fence in the background and deciduous woods beyond that. This scholar of European and Hispanic ancestry has a wide, welcoming smile which is reflected in her eyes. She has chosen a rich blue top and wears her dark hair flowing freely.

    Jennifer Rogers

    Jennifer Rogers is a literature teacher and lover of all things medieval, philological, and Inklings. She earned her M.A. at Signum University and enjoys precepting SPACE modules and wordsmithing at Writer’s Forge. Jenn resides at the northern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains with her family and 40-odd head of cattle.

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  • This black and white photo of James Tauber does not dim the spark in his eyes. His glasses do not dim it. We are not distracted by his casual black attire. It's the eyes. They are mirrors. Do you need a challenge? Do you need to hear that you can do something you've never tried? Look into those mirrors. Really. You'll be able to pull your gaze away any time now.

    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…

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  • Isaac Schendel is a man of european ancestory who is dressed in jacket and tie. He's giving us a wide, caring smile which crinkles up the corners of his warm eyes.

    Isaac S. Schendel

    Isaac S. Schendel is a Signum Academy Preceptor for Old English Translation Club and for German Conversation Club.  He is also a preceptor for Old English, Middle High German, Old Saxon, and Conversational German at Signum University’s SPACE Program. Dr. Isaac received his PhD in Germanic Studies from the University of Minnesota in 2018. His…

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  • Elise Trudel Cedeño

    By day, Elise is a Literacy Enrichment Teacher. By night, she indulges in her Tookishness by studying the books she loves with Signum. She blogs at Teaching with Magic. Elise received her M.A. from Signum University, presenting a thesis on Series Theory.  She is preceptor for Signum Academy Book Clubs and for fantasy studies topics…

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  • Chris Vaccaro is gazing at us from in front of lots of books, papers, and filing cabinet drawers with a hint of wry amusement. He's a man of European descent with a dignified bald head and full dark beard. He's dressed in a button down shirt with light stripes and we suspect he is in his academic office in Burlington, Vermont.

    Christopher T. Vaccaro

    Christopher Vaccaro joined Signum University over the Summer 0f 2016. He is a Senior Lecturer of English at the University of Vermont, where he teaches courses on Beowulf, Old English language and literature, surveys of early British Literature, and Tolkien. He has been teaching online courses since 2002. Christopher has published essays on early medieval…

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  • Carl Edlund Anderson has a full beard and sparkly blue eyes and European ancestry. He is outdoors, probably plotting the next treasure hunt or LARP for his child!

    Carl Edlund Anderson

    Carl Edlund Anderson holds an A.B. in Folklore & Mythology from Harvard College and a Ph.D. from the Faculty of English (Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, & Celtic) at the University of Cambridge, with studies focused on Medieval and Pre-Medieval Scandinavia, as well as a CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) from the British…

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  • Aiden has been shy about sharing his photo, so enjoy this bit of calligraphy which demonstrates how different scribes' handwriting might have rendered the same letter (thorn) slightly differently from each other. I think that Aidan, with his interest in cool languages, will be content for this image to serve for now.

    Aidan Aannestad

    Aidan Aannestad has a master’s degree in linguistics from the University of North Dakota, and has spent some time doing documentation work on an underdocumented language of Papua New Guinea. He has an enduring interest in all of the different ways that different languages work, and in some of the more misunderstood mechanisms that they…

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