This recording from December 13, 2025. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Elizabeth (Libby) Lyon on Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 11am ET. This thesis explores Chaucer’s perplexing conclusion to his Canterbury Tales, reflecting particularly on parallels between the Parson’s Prologue and Chaucer’s Retraction in order to discover ways these final elements influence the collection as a whole. Supported by critical scholarship, historical context, and a close reading of primary source material, the thesis argues that the Parson’s Tale and Retraction were neither accidentally included nor hastily appended to the CT; rather they are Chaucer’s meticulously designed conclusion to the Tales. Despite the penitential tone of Fragment X, what ultimately emerges from Chaucer’s final lines, through his signature techniques of purposeful irony and ambiguity, is a poetic challenge to 14th century ecclesial concerns over the perils of narrative fiction as Chaucer subtly champions the transformative potential of stories. About the Presenter: Elizabeth (Libby) Lyon hails in part from the wilds of northern Wisconsin, where she raised and homeschooled her brood of six alongside her late husband, Dr. John Lyon. She earned her BA in the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame. She has taught high school Biology, Algebra, and Composition at a classical academy, and served as a volunteer EMT with Bayfield Ambulance near the shores of Lake Superior. As a Masters degree student with Signum University, she has presented for Mythmoots X and XI, OzMoot, and Prancing Pony Podcast Moot on topics ranging from LotR to Huckleberry Finn to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Libby currently resides a stone’s throw from the Michigan state line, in northwestern Indiana. Besides taking Signum courses, her favorite pursuits are running, knitting, traveling, playing violin, and aggressively spoiling her grandchildren. About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their choice. The Thesis Theater is their opportunity to present their research to a general audience, and answer questions. All are welcome to attend! Learn about Signum University’s mission, leadership and more: https://signumuniversity.org/about/. Registration is open for Spring 2026! Term b

Now Corey Olsen delivers the 2025 State of the University Address, to discuss the exciting future of Signum University! Thank you all for your support for Signum University. https://signumuniversity.org/news/annual-fundraising-campaign-2025/ https://signumuniversity.org/support/ https://signumuniversity.org/support/donate/ To know more about us, Signum University, visit https://signumuniversity.org/ https://signumuniversity.org/new-here/Support The Signum Scene

This episode contains my conversation with Stacy Aannestad about her novel: Flight: the Den-Aronel Chronicles in the Signum University Collaboratory. I also report on two new works that have entered the fiction sector since the last episode.Support The Signum Scene

This recording from September 1, 2025. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Bronwyn Rivera on Monday, September 1, 2025 at 11 am ET. From psychology to film theory, ecocriticism to posthumanism, anime studies have flourished as scholars investigate the medium through a variety of interdisciplinary lenses. In particular, academics are examining relationships between pilgrimage and tourism to anime/anime-adjacent sites, how anime plotlines reflect or reject narrative archetypes, or how specific anime subgenres lend themselves to telling stories of recovery and change. However, texts related to the study of pilgrimage within anime are limited in scope. As such, pilgrimage structures are typically paired with anime-related tourism rather than investigating how anime reflects the motives, processes, and outcomes of pilgrimage. Using Kyoto Animation’s 2018 series Violet Evergarden (ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン) as a case study, this thesis aims to bridge the gap and demonstrate how an anime can function as a pilgrimage narrative. Based on Laing and Frost’s three-stage model, the thesis is divided into three main categories: Departure, Transformation, and Return. Within these categories are smaller sections that examine the literal, emotional, and spiritual facets of pilgrimage found throughout Violet Evergarden. Additionally, this thesis provides insight into components of Japanese culture and literary devices, specifically ningyō (“doll”) culture and iyashikei (lit. “healing type”), both of which contribute to a deeper understanding of who Violet is as a protagonist and the journey she takes from ex-child soldier to Auto Memories Doll. About the Presenter: Bronwyn Rivera lives with her family, a cat, a dog, and a host of livestock on their small homestead in Pennsylvania. She received her BSc in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Library Science, but chose to pursue her love for writing and literature at the Master’s level through Signum University. Along the way, she discovered a passion for East Asian languages, media, and popular culture, which ultimately influenced her thesis topic. Bronwyn works as a Research/Teaching Assistant, volunteers as Signum’s Library Research Student Aide, and enjoys multiple hobbies, including reading, baking, and getting lost in (J)RPGs. About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their c

This recording from August 13, 2025. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Grace Bennett on Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 3pm ET. This thesis challenges the reductionistic narrative that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were anti-technology and anti-science. It examines technological examples from the works of Lewis and Tolkien that show their varying degrees of comfort and caution surrounding different types of technology. The first category this thesis assesses is technology created for knowledge, which Lewis and Tolkien saw as inherently neutral and able to be used for good or evil. The second category, technology for travel between worlds, highlights Lewis’s fears about lasting negative consequences of space travel, and the third category examines inherently evil technology created for control and domination. About the Presenter: Grace Bennett has been working towards an MA in Language and Literature from Signum University with a concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Literature. She is originally from North Carolina and got her bachelor’s degree in Literature from Patrick Henry College, located in Virginia. She currently lives in St Andrews, Scotland with her husband while he pursues a master’s degree at the University of St Andrews. Grace works for the Classic Learning Test and spends much of her free time (now that her thesis is finished!) reading, baking, and exploring the magical Scottish seaside. She is head-over-heels for anything to do with Lewis, Tolkien, Middle English, tea, Doctor Who, and puffins. She hopes to pursue further Lewis and Tolkien studies in the future! About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their choice. The Thesis Theater is their opportunity to present their research to a general audience, and answer questions. All are welcome to attend! Learn about Signum University’s mission, leadership and more: https://signumuniversity.org/about/. To learn more about Signum's rigorous academic graduate program: https://signumuniversity.org/degree-programs/graduate/ma-in-language-and-literature/ Want to enjoy Signum’s educational offerings? Start here!

This recording from August 6, 2025 Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Sarah Shahan Polo on Wednesday, August 6, 2025 at 1pm ET. This thesis explores the complex relationship between J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and the literary and cultural movements of modernism and postmodern counterculture. Though Tolkien personally distanced himself from modernist and postmodern ideologies, his work nevertheless reflects and resonates with themes central to both movements. By analyzing scholarly perspectives and cultural responses, this study argues that The Lord of the Rings bridges ancient literary traditions with modern sensibilities—addressing war trauma, the nature of evil, identity, environmentalism, and evolving concepts of heroism. Special attention is given to the novel’s adoption by the American counterculture of the 1960s and 70s, which found in Tolkien’s world a mythic yet morally complex narrative emblematic of their own anti-war, environmentalist, and anti-establishment values. While Tolkien intended to write a myth that might nourish the soil and roots of England, his work’s reception by modern and postmodern audiences reveals its enduring relevance. Ultimately, The Lord of the Rings transcends its time to become not merely a myth for England, but a myth for mankind. About the Presenter: Sarah Polo has a deep fascination with the humanities, from fine art to dance to literature. She enjoys nitpicking at language, studying history, reading everything, and writing, which ultimately prompted her to pursue an education in English, finding particular solace in mythology and medievalism. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in teaching and linguistics, Master of Arts degree in English Language and Literature, and a minor degree in Old Testament Biblical Studies from Azusa Pacific University. In 2020, she joined Signum University to expand her knowledge of language and literature particularly in Tolkien Studies. She also has articles published in journals including Mallorn, The Cambridge Tolkien Society Journal, and The West Wind, as well as a children’s book called The Purple Ballet Tree. Additionally, she has been an educator for ten years, both as a ballet instructor and English teacher. She is an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University and owns a literature and language school called Page Turners Academy for young students. Working with students brings her great joy, a

This episode contains an interview with author and Academic Submissions Coordinator Dr Julian Barr. Julian has a middle grade novel called Rebel Seers: Beyond the Ashlands up in the collaboratory and several works published outside Signum University. There is also a brief reminder about the new Signum Tutorials program as announced at Mythmoot XII.Support The Signum Scene

This recording from June 4, 2025. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Jeffrey Wade on Thursday, June 4, 2025 at 5pm ET. This thesis concerns itself with the question of whether the inhabitants of Tolkien’s Arda possess an awareness of their creation’s eschatological end. It is not a study of Christian doctrine, Tolkien, or outside analysis. It is a study of how myth carries the weight of a telos through music, memory, and hope. This thesis’ conceit is the same as Tolkien’s, the entire legendarium has been recorded and passed down from the Valar to the Elves and subsequently through the Hobbits. Therefore, all of Arda is revealed to be undergirded by the Music of the Ainur, which is more than a creation hymn – it is a sustaining breath, echoing through waters, songs, and the hearts of every individual. This Music is heard beside hearths, in dreams before perilous roads, and wherever water is found. Drawing from the legendarium, with modern scholarship simply providing context, this study argues that Arda is alive and looking forward to a final eucatastrophe where all sad things come untrue. About the Presenter: Jeffrey E. Wade, Concordia Seminary, M.Div. ’14, became a student again shortly after discovering Signum University. What started as a hope to be a better reader, researcher, and writer soon blossomed into enrollment in the MA program with the desire to better communicate and inculcate hope using Tolkien’s legendarium as a foundation. Bringing hope is Jeffrey’s primary vocation as a pastor and head of school in Michigan. When not teaching, conversing, or residing in a good book, Jeffrey spends his time outdoors with his wife and three children. About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their choice. The Thesis Theater is their opportunity to present their research to a general audience, and answer questions. All are welcome to attend! Learn about Signum University’s mission, leadership and more: https://signumuniversity.org/about/. To learn more about Signum's rigorous academic graduate program: https://signumuniversity.org/degree-programs/graduate/ma-in-language-and-literature/ Want to enjoy Sign

This recording from May 30, 2025. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Father Andrew Damick on Friday, May 30, 2025 at 2pm ET. In J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium, particularly in The Silmarillion and related material, the reader encounters divine beings, including the Valar, who are called gods in the text and by Tolkien himself in his commentary. Multiple divine beings in addition the creator god Eru Ilúvatar – the Ainur – inhabit Tolkien’s world, both good and evil, and their presence is the primary reason that many scholars and readers have asked: Is Tolkien’s work Christian or pagan? Modern understandings of the divine in religion (both academic and popular) tend to divide religious traditions into monotheism and polytheism, and so Tolkien’s pantheon of gods might seem pagan. What such a reading of Tolkien usually fails to consider is the divine plurality present in the Christian tradition that does not conform to common conceptions of monotheism. In Biblical scholarship, the divine plurality in both the Bible and other Christian texts, emblematic in the Biblical phrase God of gods (Deut. 10:17; Ps. 136:2; Dan. 2:47, 11:36), may be understood through the lens of divine council theology. Further, a consideration of the Christian tradition broadly (not limiting examination only to the canonical Scriptures) shows divine plurality firmly entrenched. This thesis uses divine council theology in considering both the Bible and other major historical Christian texts to interpret Tolkien’s Valar and Maiar – both fallen and unfallen – as more consistent with a premodern Christian framework, in which there is both a single creator God and many other gods. About the Presenter: The Very Rev. Andrew Stephen Damick is an archpriest of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, Chief Content Officer of Ancient Faith Ministries, author of five books (with a sixth forthcoming in 2025), and host or co-host of nine podcasts. His work has been translated into Romanian, Spanish, Russian, Lithuanian, Mandarin Chinese, and Vietnamese. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature with minors in Religion, Ancient Greek, and Classical Studies from North Carolina State University, and a Master of Divinity degree from St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary with Honors in the field of Church History. He served in parish ministry for thirteen years and has worked in Orthodox Christian media since 2020.

This episode contains an interview with author Brad Patty, whose novel Arms and White Samite is posted in the fiction submission hall of the Circulation Library. WE also update new things added to the Collaboratory since the last podcast was recorded.Support The Signum Scene

This recording from May 24, 2025. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Sarah Monnier on Friday, May 24, 2025 at 9am ET. It is a truth universally acknowledged that the Classics, which generally means Greek and Latin language materials, are much more advanced in digital scholarship and resources than Germanic languages. While an enormous amount of material exists online to allow research into Biblical and Classical Greek text, for instance, there is less available for the Germanic languages, including Old English. While the digital world is not devoid of quality Old English digital editions (Electronic Beowulf immediately stands out), there is little connectivity between projects, and with the wider world of scholarship beyond the immediate texts. This project takes Widsið as a prototype for the XML-markup of Old English poetry that allows ease-of-reading for scholars of all levels and language abilities. The goal is to give access to original-language texts to scholars who are not fluent, or perhaps are learning the language, as well as to give wider access to additional information about things mentioned within the poem. Chosen because of its plethora of named entities, Widsið demonstrates the broader possibilities of digital editions, and the future of inclusion within the Perseus Digital Library would give still greater reach to its references. This paper discusses the process of creating this digital text, both as a scholarly edition and as a digital edition, and then explores the greater possibilities available in a digital context. About the Presenter: Sarah Monnier is a former opera singer who switched paths after having children. Her first course at Signum was Introduction to Old English, where she fell in love with the language and poetry. At Signum she was introduced to working with digital texts, and inspired by the possibilities of Old English in a digital context, she dove headfirst into that side of Old English studies. A mother of four, she lives in Iowa. About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their choice. The Thesis Theater is their opportunity to present their research to a general audience, and answer questions. All are welcome to attend! Learn about Signum University’s mission, leadership and more: https://signumuniv

This recording from May 7, 2025. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Kimberly McKinney on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 10am ET. J. R. R. Tolkien’s tales about Middle-earth were designed to provide a conceivable mythological history for the existing world. Due to this intentional connection, his secondary, fictional world reflects many familiar primary world experiences in both physical and metaphysical aspects. As a reader and writer of fairy-stories, Tolkien desired to present life as simultaneously touched by grief and joy, thus creating his concept of the eucatastrophe. As someone who loved nature and especially plants, Tolkien infused Middle-earth with a remarkable variety of botanical life, not only to inform the landscape, but also to communicate some of his most significant themes. The high value Tolkien placed on flowers, herbs, and trees moved him to feature them in active roles in his stories and to portray them as independent, influential members of a living world. This paper explores several key ways in which Tolkien used plants in Middle-earth: as setters of environment and mood, as communicators of a location’s good or evil nature, as instigators of joy through eucatastrophic deliverance, and as symbols of abiding hope, which Tolkien called in Elvish estel. About the Presenter: An avid reader from an early age, Kimberly studied biology and journalism in college, with plans to become a science writer. In time, however, the writing side won out, and she began pursuing a part-time career as a book editor while embarking on a full-time career of homeschooling her children. In 2021, she joined the Signum family in the MA program to expand her knowledge of language and literature, especially fantasy literature, and to sharpen her abilities to communicate and teach. Her interests span a broad range, including the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, medieval Germanic languages, and modern methods of textual study. Kimberly and her husband have also authored and self-published a growing number of fantasy novels together. She lives with her family and four cats in South Carolina, USA. About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their choice. The Thesis Theater is their opportunity to present their research to a general audience, and answer questions. All are welcome to attend! Learn about

In this episode of the Storyweb, host Christopher Bartlett takes the listeners on a tour of what is already in the Fiction Hall of the Signum University Collaboratory’s circulation library. He gives an overview of each of the works one may find there, and urges subscribers to engage with the authors of these works. To contact Christopher Bartlett, email to Christopher BartlettSupport The Signum Scene

Introducing Storyweb, a new series of chats with authors and creators from the Signum Plaza.Support The Signum Scene

In this inaugural episode of the Storyweb series, Christopher Bartlett interviews Sparrow Alden about her history and process as a writer. They discuss A Flash of Wings, Sparrow’s anthology of flash fiction that appears in the Signum University Collaboratory. https://collaboratory.signumuniversity.org/library/37Support The Signum Scene

Join President Corey Olsen for a look at the year that has been and a discussion of Signum's direction in 2025 and beyond! Please consider supporting Signum University. https://signumuniversity.org/news/find-joy-learn-the-things-that-you-love/ https://signumuniversity.org/support/donate/ More about Signum University https://signumuniversity.org/new-here/ https://signumuniversity.org/Support The Signum Scene

This recording from November 1, 2024. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Jay Moses on Saturday, November 1, 2024 at 5pm ET. M.R. James was recognized and acclaimed for his short stories of the macabre written at the turn of the twentieth century. In the 1970’s the new genre of Folk Horror arose, basing many of its stories within the England countryside, and claiming M.R. James as a significant foundation and forerunner. While setting most of his stories in present day England, several of them are set within 17th Century England. This Thesis explores four of James’ stories with settings in 17th Century England: The Fenstanton Witch, The Ash Tree, Martin’s Close and The Rose Garden and attempts to discern what exactly drew James to this time period, but more importantly, what it was about this time period that lent itself to Folk Horror. It is the conclusion of this Thesis that the great instability of England, combining Puritan beliefs, fanatical authority, and brutal punishments, laid the seeds of paranoia and rural unease from which M.R. James and Folk Horror both created tales of terror. About the Presenter: Jay Moses is a pastor at Saint Mark Presbyterian Church in the DC area, teaching adjunct at the University of Maryland. His favorite memories leading to his studies at Signum are finding yellow-worn paperbacks of Ray Bradbury in his sister’s book shelf, watching the Hobbit with cheese popcorn made by his mother, and listening to the many ghost stories told by his father while camping. His wife is the best thing about him, and his children continue to wonder if he really reads his books. About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their choice. The Thesis Theater is their opportunity to present their research to a general audience, and answer questions. All are welcome to attend! Registration is open for the Spring 2025 semester (term begins January 13th)! To view our upcoming courses: https://signumuniversity.org/degree-programs/graduate/upcoming-courses/ Learn about Signum University’s mission, leadership and more: https://signumuniversity.org/about/. Want to enjoy Signum’s educational offerings? Start here!

This recording from September 28, 2024. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Peter DeVault on Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 10am ET. Modern metrical analysis of Germanic alliterative poetry (GAP) has invariably proceeded from edited texts in which the poem is represented visually as verses on a printed page or screen. Of course, that is not how these poems came down to us. The manuscript form of a GA poem is typically indistinguishable from prose, the words (and abbreviations) inscribed margin to margin on parchment, with little or no indication of where one verse ends and another begins. This manuscript arrangement is a trove for learning how medieval poets and scribes assembled and presented their materials. Remarkably, the abstract structure of a GAP poem can be recovered from manuscript “storage” by someone having no prior familiarity with the poem. Hitherto, to present the poem has been to lose the manuscript. I propose an alternative that illuminates on the one hand the continuity between manuscript and poetic text, and on the other, the versecraft of the poet as evidenced in the text. The annotation scheme and processing method outlined in this thesis allow us to create a TEI/Menota compatible xml document based on a medieval germanic poem realized in a particular manuscript. This document can contain several overlapping layers of information: the layout of the words on the manuscript page along with their linguistic and morphological features and decomposition into syllables; the organization of those words into poetic lines and verses; and a projection of metrical features onto this abstract structure. While being itself a data source for further programmatic analytic and comparative work, this document can in turn be transformed into an interactive html representation showing any of these layers of information. In this presentation, you will see how these methods and tools work in the context of selections from five poetic manuscripts including portions of Beowulf and the Poetic Edda. About the Presenter: Peter DeVault hails from the upper Midwest of the United States, where he works at a healthcare software company leading a team developing applications for clinical genomics. Having discovered Signum University in 2019 while tracking down linguistic resources for Tolkien’s invented languages, he has since immersed himself in a world of medieval Germanic languages and texts. When

This recording from September 9, 2024. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Julia Stowe on Saturday, September 14, 2024 at 10am ET. The concepts of time and eternity, and the words that are used to express them, have significant influence over a culture. This thesis examines how the understanding of these concepts changed in early Germanic culture with the introduction of Christianity, and how this shift is reflected in the languages and literature of the early Germanic world. Focusing on West Germanic languages and literature from the 8th to 10th centuries, it explores how a shift in a cultural conception of time instigates broader and deeper cultural transformations and linguistic change. The perception of time as cyclical and endless, yet enduringly doomed, as can be glimpsed in pre- Christian Germanic cultures, is contrasted with the conceptualization of time as a finite creation and eternity as an existence wholly outside of time’s boundaries, the view introduced to early medieval Germania through early Christian writings. By considering how an understanding of time and eternity affects a culture and by analyzing texts from this era, we can examine how the introduction of Christian theological and philosophical thought surrounding these concepts influenced the greater culture, and how that influence is reflected in the language and literature. About the Presenter: Julia Stowe began studying with Signum University in 2020 with plans to complete a graduate certificate. After the first course, however, a general interest in medieval literature and Germanic philology had turned to passion that has continued to grow in the past few years of working towards an MA. Outside of academic interests, she is an herbalist, graphic designer, and avid gardener, and is delighted at the prospect of staying connected with the Signum community in the future through auditing and SPACE courses. About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their choice. The Thesis Theater is their opportunity to present their research to a general audience, and answer questions. All are welcome to attend! Learn about Signum University’s mission, leadership and more: https://signumuniversity.org/about/. Want to enjoy Signum’s educational offerings? Start here!

This recording from August 10, 2024. Signum University presents Thesis Theater with Robert Black on Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 4pm ET. This paper proposes to compare once again the heroes Beowulf and Böðvarr Bjarki, using linguistics and critiques of the heroes to build on the traditional approaches of comparison through folktale, etymological, and literary analysis to examine the degree to which Beowulf may be considered a hero or the praised object of censure. After summarizing their mode of Germanic Heroism and lightly comparing the heroes’ stories and reviewing the current state of scholarship on the Bear’s Son Tale as applied to these analogues and the role of the Dragon in Beowulf, attention is given to the use and significance of the term aglæca in Beowulf, including its application to the eponymous hero. Further consideration is given to Beowulf’s fate as a Christianised Germanic Hero, and it is argued that the poet subtly critiques Beowulf for the shortcomings endemic to his particular idiom of heroism, in contrast with absence of critique of Böðvarr. This evidence and reasoning provide additional support for the argument that Beowulf was composed in an Anglo-Latin and thus Christianised England, and allow for fresh examination of the implications thereof. About the Presenter: Robert Black earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at Austin College and has taught English Language & Literature at various levels for the past dozen years. When he has free time, he enjoys reading, hiking, a pint of bitter, reading, whistling, watching & discussing movies & shows, and more reading. But what is best in his life is raising three lovely children with his wonderful wife in their native Texas. About Signum Thesis Theaters: Each of our master’s students writes a thesis at the end of their degree program, exploring a topic of their choice. The Thesis Theater is their opportunity to present their research to a general audience, and answer questions. All are welcome to attend! Registration is open for the Fall 2024 semester (term begins August 26th)! To view our upcoming courses: https://signumuniversity.org/degree-p.... Learn about Signum University’s mission, leadership and more: https://signumuniversity.org/about/. Want to enjoy Signum’s educatio