Michael Collender
Dr. Michael Collender has 20 years of experience teaching in Classical Christian education. He has taught at VSA since 2009. While at VSA he has created and taught four courses: Film and Worldview (since 2009), Rhetoric II (since 2010), Psychology (since 2013) and Economics (since 2014). In addition to these courses, he has taught Rhetoric I and Omnibus III Secondary (including the Self-Paced version. While teaching at VSA in previous years he has taught Omnibus I, II, III, and IV. He edited A Rhetoric of Love: Volume One, VSA's Rhetoric I textbook. He is the author of A Rhetoric of Love: Volume Two, the text for Rhetoric II. Before coming to VSA, Dr. Collender was chair of the Rhetoric Department at The Oaks Academy in Spokane, WA. He earned his first doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, working on the problem of modeling complex systems in neuroscience and economics. He is currently completing his second doctorate in Theology at the University of South Africa. He is a professor of theology at Redemption Seminary, where he trains future pastors in biblical theology and leadership. An alumnus of the Los Angeles Film Studies Center, he worked in script development and in production in the capacities of Assistant Director and Second Unit Director. He taught philosophy and leadership studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, for over a decade. He has also been a Visiting Fellow of the Philosophy Institute of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He loves teaching students at VSA because they have lively, passionate minds. They are well-read, brilliant and ambitious!
