Sun. Feb 23rd, 2025

Certificates and Awards

Welcome to the hall of fame for my extracurricular conquests! Here you’ll find a curated collection of certifications that prove I don’t just stop at textbooks and lectures. Whether it’s mastering humanities topics or taming the wild world of STEM subjects, these badges of honor showcase my relentless pursuit of knowledge and skill—beyond the normal 9-5 academic grind. Dive in and see the eclectic mix of expertise that adds a bit of extra flair to my educational journey!

Image forthcoming: https://m-saunders.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20250117-Computational-Linguistics-Cert.avif

Skills include:

  • Linguistics
  • Data science
  • Python
  • Natural Language Process (NLP) and associated skills
  • Text sentiment
  • Machine translation
  • Machine learning
  • Speech recognition

Certificate of Completion for the course "Learning DNS" via LinkedIn Learning

 

Description

  • The Domain Name System (DNS) helps us whenever we browse the internet by translating domain names that are easy for humans to read into IP addresses. In this introductory course, Jarrel Rivera teaches the basics of what DNS is, what it does, and how to manage it. He teaches about DNS domain hierarchy, name resolution, and record types. He also explores more advanced topics like DNS query packet analysis, caching, forwarding and security. He covers effective ways to manage DNS in Cisco networks, as well as in a Windows Server environment. He also goes over how DNS is managed and configured in Windows clients and in Linux environments.

Certificate of Completion for the course "WordPress: Speeding Up Your Site" via LinkedIn Learning

 

Description

  • Slow loading speeds equal lost customers. In this course, the instructor walks through steps to make a typical WordPress site faster. He explains why speed is important, then shows how to check and monitor your speed. He describes how websites slow down and how to identify static and dynamic WordPress sites. He goes into hosting and all the ways a good website host can speed up your site. He covers ways to make sure media isn’t slowing down your site, such as optimizing images, using a content delivery network (CDN), and offloading audio and video files. He shows you how to balance fast versus functional, in making sure plugins don’t slow down your site. After going over how to make your database more efficient, he concludes with a discussion of caching and how “busting” your cache can speed up your site.

WordPress Full Stack Editing Cert Jan 06 2025

Learning objectives

  • Understand the core principles of Full Site Editing (FSE) and its significance in modern web design.
  • Configure a local development environment for FSE using Local by WP Engine.
  • Select and customize the Ollie theme for FSE projects.
  • Create custom patterns and reusable blocks for efficient web design.
  • Translate Figma designs into functional FSE blocks.
  • Build engaging homepage and contact pages using FSE.
  • Prioritize accessibility in FSE websites.

WordPress Essential Training Certificate of Completion, Matthew Saunders

  • Skills taught including WordPress security, pages, posts, plugins and themes, design customization, media library, and WordPress maintenance (site health, troubleshooting, security maintenance, performance maintenance).

Best WordPress Plugins 2024 Cert

  • Learned about top innovative free plugins (e.g. Block Visibility; eCommerce; Image Lightbox; Google Analytics; etc.) for a WordPress website.

DAA Certificate

  • Topics of study included Data collection, cleaning, and management; Programming with Python; Data visualisation with Tableau; Creating maps with QGIS; Social and lexical network analysis using Gephi.

DH2 Certificate from HarvardX

Classes:

  • Northwest Semitic: Ugaritic and Phoenician
  • Advanced Biblical Hebrew
  • Introducing Sabaic: Script, Grammar, and Lexicon
  • Historical Grammar of Hittite

Related Skills:

  • eye-tracking; imaging technologies; digital scholarly editing; TEI-XML; cultural heritage

LinkedIn Learning's "Git Essential Training" Certificate

Related Skills:

  • Git; GitHub; Visual Studio Code

LinkedIn Learning's "XML Essential Training" Certificate

Related Skills:

  • XML; XML DOM; XPath; XSLT; XML Schema; HTML; CSS

Certificate of Attendance:

Antwerp DHSS Certificate of Attendance

Micro-Credential Certificate:

Antwerp DHSS Micro-Credential Certificate

Related Skills:

  • XML; TEI-XML; HTML; CSS; XPath; XSLT; Oxygen XML Editor; Visual Studio Code; Git; GitHub; HTR; Transkribus; eScriptorium; Axolotl; Keystroke Logging; Inputlog; GGXLogger; Keystroke Loxensis; Digital scholarly editing

Certificate for LinkedIn Learning's "Foundations of GIS" online course

Certificate for Harvard University's "Introduction to Digital Humanities" online course offered via EdX

Certification for Coursera's "A Crash Course in Data Science" taught by Johns Hopkins University

Certification for Udemy's "WordPress for Beginners: Create a Website Step by Step"

Certificate for Judeo-Greek from the Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages

Certificate for Arabic 101 & 102 from the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center

Certificate for Hillsdale's "Theology 101" online course

Certificate for Hillsdale's "Winston Churchill and Statesmanship" online course

Certificate for Hillsdale's "The Presidency and the Constitution" online course

Certificate for Syriac 1 from Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute

 

Certificate for Modern Hebrew Ulpan 1 (Aleph) accredited by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Modern Hebrew Ulpan 1 {30 hrs}: Dec. 2, 2021

Certificate for Open Source Intelligence Essential Training via LinkedIn Learning

Certificate for Biblical Aramaic accredited by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Certificate for Hillsdale's "American Heritage" online course

Certificate for Hillsdale's "Constitution 201" online course

Certificate for Hillsdale's "Aristotle's Ethics" online course

Certificate for Google's Technical Support Fundamentals source

Certification for Hillsdale's "Western Heritage" online course

Certificate for Hillsdale's "Great Books 101" online course

Certificate for Hillsdale's "Introduction to the Constitution" online course

Certificate for Hillsdale's "Constitution 101" online course

Intro IT & Cybersecurity Cert

Current and Future Certifications to Complete:

Current Certification Courses In Progress:

  • “CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science” (via HarvardX on EdX)
  • “CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Python” (via HarvardX on EdX)

Future Certification Courses To Complete:

WordPress Courses

  • “WordPress for Beginners: Master WordPress Quickly” (via Udemy)
  • “WordPress: SEO” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “How to Build a WordPress Membership Site with MemberPress” (via Udemy)
  • “The Complete WordPress Business Course 2.0” (via Udemy)
  • “Become a WordPress Developer: Unlocking Power with Code” (via Udemy)

Web Development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, etc.)

  • “Learning DNS” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “Windows Server 2025: DHCP and DNS” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “An Introduction to Web Development” (via EdX)
  • “Web Design for Beginners: Real World Coding in HTML and CSS” (via Udemy)
  • “HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers” (via Johns Hopkins University on Coursera)
  • “HTML Essential Training” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “CSS Essential Training” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “JavaScript Essential Training” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “Learn JavaScript: Full Stack from Scratch” (via Udemy)
  • “Become a Web Developer: 2024 Bootcamp” (via Udemy)
  • “MySQL for Beginners: Real Database Experience Real Fast” (via Udemy)

Computer Science, Digital Tools, and Mathematical Foundations

  • “Computer Science 101: Master the Theory Behind Programming” (via Udemy)
  • “Postman Essential Training” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “Grasshopper Essential Training” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “Tableau Business Intelligence Analyst Professional Certificate” (via Tableau on Coursera)
  • “Tableau Desktop Specialist” (via Tableau)

Data Science and Data Analytics

  • IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate (via IBM on Coursera)
  • Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate (via Google on Coursera)

APIs and Data/File Formats

  • “Introduction to Web APIs” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “Learn XML Crash Course: Discover Essential XML Fundamentals” (via Udemy)
  • “Learn API Documentation with JSON and XML” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “HTTP Essential Training” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “JSON Essential Training” (via LinkedIn Learning)

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

  • “Beginner Machine Learning in Python + ChatGPT” (via Udemy)
  • “ChatGPT & AI Prompt Engineering for Entrepreneurs” (via Udemy)
  • “Introduction to Large Language Models” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “Generative AI: Introduction to Large Language Models” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “Generative AI: Working with Large Language Models” (via LinkedIn Learning)

Humanities

  • “Top 10 Skills for Computational Linguistics” (via LinkedIn Learning)
  • “Pyramids of Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology” (via HarvardX on EdX)
  • “Biblical Archaeology: The Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Judah” (via IsraelX on EdX)
  • “The Bible in Light of the Ancient Near East” (via IsraelX on EdX)
  • “To the Discovery of Hittite Civilization” (via SorbonneX on EdX)
  • “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic” (via Hillsdale online)
  • “Great Books 102: Renaissance to Modern” (via Hillsdale online)