- Dr. Philos., University of Oslo (2008)
- M.A., Valdosta State University (2001)
- B.A., Valdosta State University (1999)
- Associate Professor, Nord University (2016-)
- Associate Professor of English, University of Nordland (2011-2016)
- Associate Professor of English, Bodø University College (2008-2011)
- Assistant Professor of English, Bodø University College (2006-2008)
- Instructor of English, Valdosta State University (2001-2004)
Shakespeare; Chaucer; Southern Fiction; Travel Literature; Literature in Education
Dr. Ken R. Hanssen is an Associate Professor at Nord University, where he has been teaching since 2006. His primary area of research is the works of William Shakespeare, specifically the late plays (romances), but his scholarly interests are fairly eclectic and wide-ranging and he dabbles as an amateur in a number of adjacent and non-adjacent fields, lately Chaucer studies, Southern fiction, and the genre-defying work of W.G. Sebald. He is also highly concerned with the formative role of literature in education, including curriculum development, explorations of teaching practice, and educational policy.
Current courses:
- British Studies
- American Studies
- Shakespeare and His World
- Critical Reflections on Literature and Language in English Teaching Practices
Past courses:
- Rhetoric and Composition 1
- Rhetoric and Composition 2
- World Literature 1
- World Literature 2
- Survey of Epic Literature
- English Language
- Didactics for Teachers of English
- Fantasy Literature
- Young Adult Fiction
- Research and Writing
- Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald
- Studies in Modernism
- Studies in Postmodernism
- American Novel Since 1945
- Shakespearean Comedy and History
- Shakespearean Tragedy.
Other:
- Teacher of the Year Award, Bodø University College, 2007/2008
Selected Publications:
Hanssen, Ken R. “Estetiske læringsprosesser i grunnskolelærerutdanningens engelskfag.” Norsk pedagogisk tidsskrift. 2025. Under publication.
Hanssen, Ken R. “W.G. Sebald’s Austerlitz and the Problems of Representation.” Journal of Modern Literature. 2024. Under publication.
Hanssen, Ken R. “We Are Citizens of the World: A Defense of the American Literature Survey (in the Name of Cosmopolitanism).” Nordic Journal of English Studies 20.2 (2021): 267-282.
Hanssen, Ken R. “We Are Citizens of the World: A Defence of the American Literature Survey (in the Name of Cosmopolitanism).” Nordic Journal of English Studies. Under Publication.
Hanssen, Ken R. “‘Kek kek! kokkow! quek quek!’: The Glorious Cacophony of Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls.” Chaucer Review 55.1 (2020): 70-87.
Hanssen, Ken R. “English as Lingua Franca: Language and Formation in the Arctic Region.” Topical Issues of Linguistics and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages. Murmansk UP, 2019.
Hanssen, Ken R. “‘Behold, and say ‘tis well’: The Redemptive Moment in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.” Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 53 (2018): 115-128.
Hanssen, Ken R. “Historiespill for vår egen tid?” Norsk Shakespeare- og teatertidsskrift 2018 (1): 110.
Hanssen, Ken R. “‘Men are made of the dust of the earth’: Time, Space, Matter, and Meaning in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Cormac McCarthy Journal 15.2 (2017): 177-192.
Hanssen, Ken R. “Medusa’s Head: Boss Rattlers, Rattlesnake Queens, and Goddamn True Love in Harry Crews’s A Feast of Snakes.” Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 51 (2016): 99-113.
Hanssen, Ken R. “Intimt og episk: Shakespeare’s fire eventyrspill på Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.” Norsk Shakespeare- og teatertidsskrift 2016 (2-3): 40-43.
Hanssen, Ken R. “‘I endow’d thy purposes with words that madet hem known’: Linguistic and Cultural Liminality in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Languages and Cultures in the Arctic Region. Murmansk UP, 2014.
Hanssen, Ken R. and Jessica Hanssen. “Fantasy Literature in the Classroom: An Introduction. Krafttak for lesing i fag. Akademika forlag, 2013.
Hanssen, Ken R. Et in Arcadia Ego: Representation, Character, and Pastoral in Shakespearean Romance. University of Oslo: Acta Humaniora 330. Unipub: 2008. 419 pp.
Research Groups:
Member, Humanities, Education and Culture Research Group
Professional Connections:
ASANOR: American Studies Association of Norway
NNRS: Nordic Network of Renaissance Studies
“En mer realistisk Shakespeare,” Forskning.no
