Signum University — Blackberry

Ancient Egyptian Mages

An examination of who used magic in Egypt, with an emphasis on characters within literary genres and known professions. This includes the story of Khufu, the Nubian sorcerers, the use of Shabtis, and later stories, including Lucian and the inspiration for Fantasia. This also includes priests, heal…

Precepted by Shawn Gaffney

Ancient Near East Literature and the Old Testament

Many readers around the world are familiar with the Old Testament, especially in western civilization. But did you know other cultures from the Ancient Near East also contained comparable genres of literature? Epics, annals, legal texts, hymns, wisdom literature, and prophetic oracles are all ext…

Precepted by Dr. Joel D. Ruark

An Introduction to Hinduism

In this module we will cover various religious traditions generally covered by the umbrella term "Hinduism." We will start with an overview of some of the methodological challenges faced when studying these traditions, and then turn our attention to some of the major streams of Hindu history and p…

Precepted by Dr. Robert Steed

Art History – A Thousand Stories Non-Sequential Series

Whenever we see a painting or a sculpture we might think many different things; we might wonder why we like or dislike it; what is its meaning; and why the artist created it in that way. In this series we will explore different art periods, movements, and artists. We will discuss the context, s…

Precepted by Pilar Barrera

Celtic Gods and Goddesses: Who Were They, Really?

Figures and stories from Celtic mythology appear frequently in pop culture, books, games, and films. The phrase ‘Celtic mythology’ generally refers to the pre-Christian polytheistic beliefs held by the people living in the British Isles before the Roman invasion. However, not a single primary sourc…

Figures and stories from Celtic mythology appear frequently in pop culture, books, games, and films. The phrase ‘Celtic mythology’ generally refers to the pre-Christian polytheistic beliefs held by the people living in the British Isles before the Roman invasion. However, not a single primary source has survived from the Celts themselves concerning their own mythology; all we have are later Roman and Christian texts describing Celtic cultures, and these are far from objective sources of information. The prevailing picture we have of a Celtic mythology is an amalgamation of a handful of medieval texts, and a world of historical imagination. As the leading scholar Mark Williams states, popular representations of Celtic mythology are often "retellings of retellings, in which dubious 'truths' about Celtic myth are endlessly recycled." So what can we know about the Celtic pantheon? Join me as I guide an exploration into the depths of British history and come face-to-face with Celtic mythology. This course offers a rich exploration of history and literature in conversation, designed for anyone drawn to mythology, pre-Christian belief systems, and the enduring allure of “Celtic” art and identity. Together we will uncover how and why these myths have been reshaped, misrepresented, and revived—and what that reveals about the cultures that told and retold them. Along the way, you may find not only a clearer understanding of these powerful narratives, but also fresh inspiration for your own creative and intellectual engagement with them. Course sessions: 1. Sources: Unpicking the Evidence 2. Webs of Irish, Welsh, Germanic and Norse Mythologies 3. Case Study: Brigid 4. Sacred Sites: Geography and Mythology 5. Material Evidence: Visual Art and Objects that tell Celtic Stories 6. Ossian and the Eighteenth-Century 7. The Fabulous Victorians 8. Scholarship to the Present and Beyond

Precepted by Dr. Shelley Williams

Children’s "Christmas Gothic" Book Club

"Christmas Gothic" is a literary subgenre and aesthetic that embraces the dark, eerie, and supernatural side of the winter holiday season. Stories in this mode might contain ghosts, dark fairies, magical objects, orphans, old mansions, Victorian-era dread, or the pagan roots of Midwinter and Yule. …

Precepted by Dr. Kris Swank

Crash Course on Norse Myths

The literature containing Norse mythology remains one of the most fascinating bodies of medieval storytelling anywhere. Participants will make sense of Norse myths by examining the structures of the tales and investigating the background in which they were written down in manuscripts. Explore Norse…

Precepted by Dr. Paul Peterson

Egyptian Demons

Introduction to the non-god, non-human, entities in ancient Egypt. Demons were guardians, messengers, and performed other duties, usually as intermediaries between the gods and men. We will consider the category of “demon”, their roles, descriptions, and how they changed over time in the Egyptian w…

Precepted by Shawn Gaffney

Fairy Tales Studies: Exploring Fairy Tales from Around the World and from Different Authors

Sudying fairy tales takes us back to a time when stories where passed from culture to culture. These stories, replicated around the world, deal with fears and axieties, but they also give us hope as it is the smallest and most vulnerable the one who usually triumphs. In these modules, we will ex…

Precepted by Pilar Barrera

In the Age of Wonder: The Many Themes of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal, a film directed and created by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, was released at Christmastime in 1982. An attempt at a more mature and decidedly darker direction for Henson, it performed modestly in the box office to mixed reviews. Despite its poor initial beginnings, over the nex…

Precepted by Kerra Fletcher and Jay Moses

In the Age of Wonder: The Many Themes of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal, a film directed and created by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, was released at Christmastime in 1982. An attempt at a more mature and decidedly darker direction for Henson, it performed modestly in the box office to mixed reviews. Despite its poor initial beginnings, over the nex…

Precepted by Kerra Fletcher and Jay Moses

In the Age of Wonder: The Many Themes of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal, a film directed and created by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, was released at Christmastime in 1982. An attempt at a more mature and decidedly darker direction for Henson, it performed modestly in the box office to mixed reviews. Despite its poor initial beginnings, over the nex…

Precepted by Kerra Fletcher and Jay Moses

Introduction to Ancient Magic: The Earliest Magic

An introduction to magic in the ancient world provides a short survey of the earliest known magical texts and objects, including the Pyramid texts, Sumerian exorcism spells, and objects used in different apotropaic rituals. Divination and other forms of magic will be included as well. What was the…

Precepted by Shawn Gaffney