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
- Western Herbs for Martial Artists and Contact Athletes. YMAA. Released: September 2010
Winner of the USA Book News National Best Book Award for Alternative Medicine, First Runner Up for the Eric Hoffer Award, and an IndependentPublisher.com highlighted title. - Legends of the Martial Arts Masters. Tuttle Publishing. Released: August 2003
- Clare. A historical novel. Alcuin House. Released: January 2006, electronic edition: January 2010.
- Starting and Running Your Own Martial Arts School. With Karen Levitz Vactor. Tuttle Publishing. Released: November 2002.
- Timeline Charts of the Western Church. Zondervan Publishing House. Released: October 1999.
Second Printing: November 1999. Third Printing: January 2002.
Selected by the ECPA as a Gold Medallion Book Award finalist, March 2000. - An Introduction to Christian Mysticism and Meditation: The Collected Works of Arlie Wright. (compiled and edited) Self published by the family of Arlie Wright. Released: 1989. (out of print)
Articles
- Articles in New Body, Modern Liturgy, Complete Woman, Radiance, Black Belt, Living Church, Etc., Livestrong, eHow and others. Links to some of the articles here. Clips available on request.
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
- Teacher: Bill Mailman, United Studios of Self Defense, Long Beach, California
- Rank: 4th kyu
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
- Teacher: Jeffrey Zauderer, Great Harmony Tai Chi Chuan, Tucson, Arizona (2002-2004)
Martial Kinesiology, Tucson, Arizona, 2002-2009
- Teacher: Shawn Koons
Additional Experience
- tai chi sword, jujitsu, aikido, wing chun, kenpo, tactical self defense, Mona Lisa’s Sword
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