Susan Lynn Peterson

Education | Professional Experience | Publications | Computer Expertise | Language Skills | Martial Arts

Education

M.A. in Religion. Episcopal Theological School/School of Theology, Claremont, California, 1982–1986
  • Thesis: The Evolution of the Church Year: Christmas and Easter as Seasonal Transition Festivals.
  • Research interests: Theological text as an instrument of power. Historical development of ritual as a semiotic expression of social and biological need.
Ph.D. in Humanities, Text Theory. University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas. 1982–1986
  • Minor: History of Western Thought
  • Dissertation: Sex based Differences in English Argumentative Text: A Tagmemic, Sociolinguistic Perspective.
  • Research interests: Nonlogical persuasion. Gender differences in communication. Alternative academic expression.
M.A. in Linguistics. University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, 1980–1982
  • Minor: Teaching English as a Second Language
  • Thesis: Toward a Theory of Contrastive Rhetoric with Application to the Teaching of ESL Composition
  • Research interests: Nonwestern persuasive text. Sociolinguistics of text.
B.I.S. in Anthropological Linguistics. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1978–1980
  • Minor: Biblical languages
Diploma in Foreign Missions. Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois, 1975–1978
  • Minor: Greek

Professional Experience

Owner and Operator of Alcuin Communications, LLC, Center City, Minnesota and Tucson, Arizona, 2007-present
  • Edited and published memoirs and “family history” books.
  • Designed and maintained Web sites.
  • Designed various business forms and printed materials (fillable pdfs, brochures, flyers, sandwich boards)
  • Edited and restored photos.
Freelance Writer/Editor, Center City, Minnesota and Tucson, Arizona, 1990-present
  • Wrote five books, numerous magazine articles and columns.
  • Wrote Internet articles for Demand Studios. Specializations: cooking, food preservation, gardening, martial arts
  • Wrote and edited fund raising letters, annual reports, newsletters, tenure and promotion documents.
  • Work in Progress: The Mind of Martial Arts. A conversation between traditional Asian mind-body practices and modern brain research.
Karate Instructor, Black Pine Martial Arts, KoSho Karate Pantano, and KoSho Karate San Tucson, Arizona, 1996-2011
  • Taught Okinawan Shuri-ryu, Okinawan kobudo, mind-body technologies, and self defense to children and adults
  • Wrote standards books for students and reference materials for teachers
  • Supervised assistant instructors
  • Designed and conducted rank-promotion tests
  • Maintained Web site (2004-2007)
  • Designed marketing materials
  • Participated in the operation of a small business
Adjunct Professor Church History, Episcopal Theological School, Claremont, California, 1990-1992
  • Designed and taught four graduate-level church history courses: early, medieval, reformation, and modern
  • Taught working adults in a program that allowed them to get a master’s degree while continuing to work a full-time job.
Writing Instructor, Cypress College, Cypress, California, 1986-1990
  • Designed and taught English courses: developmental writing and freshman composition.
  • Assessed departmental writing proficiency tests.
Graduate Teaching Associate, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, 1984-1985
  • Assisted in teaching Conceptual Basis of the Humanities, a graduate level course in the history of Western thought
Research Assistant, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, 1984-1985
  • Researched current trends in critical thinking education and helped develop a writing/critical thinking integrated curriculum.
  • Organized the Second International Conference on Linguistics and the Humanities (March 14 16, 1984).
  • Rewrote the humanities program brochure.
  • Edited all conference programs for the College of Liberal Arts.
Instructor, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, 1980-1984
  • Designed and taught courses for Foreign Languages and Linguistics Department, Philosophy Department, Graduate Humanities Program, English Language Institute
  • Classes included: freshman composition for non native speakers of English, introduction to informal logic and critical thinking, intermediate and advanced college-preparatory English as a second language, graduate-level conceptual bases of the humanities.
Freelance Tutor, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, 1983-1984
  • Taught technical writing to graduate students in university business, science, and engineering
English Instructor, Tsudanuma English School, Tsudanuma, Japan, 1979
  • Taught English as a foreign language: five classes, students aged four through adult.

Publications

Books
Articles

Computer Expertise

  • More than thirty years years of computer experience. Very skilled user
  • Familiar with Windows and Apple operating systems
  • Expert user of: WordPerfect, MSWord, Photoshop, Firefox. Highly skilled user of  Publisher, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Adobe Acrobat, Outlook, Excel, all CoffeeCup software, and many other software packages.
  • Intermediate-level hand-coding of html and css.
  • Can perform intermediate-level hardware installation, upgrades, and repairs. Can perform intermediate-level troubleshooting of MS Windows systems.
  • Highly experienced in Internet research

Language Skills

  • Spanish (fair reading ability, some speaking ability)
  • Koine Greek (fair reading ability)

Have also studied:

  • Classical Hebrew (reading)
  • French (reading)
  • German (reading)
  • Latin (reading)
  • Russian (reading and some speaking)
  • Tibetan (grammar only)
  • Dakota (monolingual analysis)
  • Arabic (monolingual analysis)

Martial Arts Experience

Experience
Shaolin Kempo/Shaolin Chuan Fa, 1990-1992
Okinawan Shuri-ryu Karate, 1993-2011
  • Teachers: Kandie Vactor, Johnny Linebarger, Tony Linebarger, Lend McCaster, John Spooner, Tony Bisanz.
  • Rank: Godan in karate and Nidan in kobudo
Yang Style Tai Chi, 2002-present
Martial Kinesiology, Tucson, Arizona, 2002-2009
  • Teacher: Shawn Koons
Additional Experience
Tournament Experience (highlights)
  • 1995 USAKF Arizona State Tournament: First place Women’s 35+ Intermediate Kobudo, First place Women’s 35+ Intermediate Kata
  • 1995 USAKF Pacific League Tournament: First place Women’s 35+ Intermediate Kobudo, Second place Women’s 35+ Intermediate Kata
  • 1995 USAKF National Tournament: First place Women’s 35+ Intermediate Kobudo
  • 1996 USAKF Arizona State Karate Tournament: Second place Women’s 35+ Advanced Kata, Second place Women’s 35+ Advanced Kobudo
  • 1996 USAKF National Tournament: Second place Women’s 35+ Advanced Kobudo
  • 1999 USAKF Arizona State Tournament: First place Women’s 35+ Advanced Kata
  • 2001 USAKF Arizona State Tournament: First place Women’s 35+ Advanced Kobudo (short weapons), Second place Women’s 35+ Advanced Kata, Second place Women’s 35+ Advanced Kobudo (long weapons)
  • 2001 USAKF Pacific League Tournament: First place 35+ Advanced Kobudo (short weapons), First place 35+ Advanced Kobudo (long weapons), Third place Senior Women (35+) Black Belt kata
  • 2006 USKA State Tournament: Third place Advanced Kobudo, Fourth place Advanced Kata
  • 2006 USKA National Tournament: Fourth place Kobudo Master’s Division, Third Place Advanced Kata
  • USKA Certified judge