Dr. Ken Runar Hanssen has been promoted to Professor of English following an expert committee assessment of his qualifications in research, teaching, academic development, and institutional service.

The committee concludes that Hanssen presents a scholarly profile defined by its quality, range, erudition, and sophistication. His research in canonical Early Modern and Modern literature, including ‘luminous’ contributions to Shakespeare studies and contemporary British and American literature, is marked by critical independence, interpretive refinement, and philosophical depth. The committee emphasizes Hanssen’s authoritative command of both literary and intellectual history, his diligent attention to scholarly tradition, and his capacity to bring close textual analysis into productive conversation with broader theoretical, aesthetic, and cultural questions.

The committee further remarks that Hanssen’s scholarship is distinguished by its rhetorical verve, wit, and elegance. Complex interpretations are presented with clarity and precision, and his writing combines analytical density with a vigorous and compelling critical voice. Taken together, his ‘beautifully written’ publications bear the marks of an accomplished international scholar whose work is both deeply learned and intellectually ambitious. His essays have appeared in a number of leading outlets like Journal of Modern Literature (L2), Southern Quarterly (L2), American Literary History (L2), Chaucer Review, Cormac McCarthy Review, Nordic Journal of English Studies, Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, Norwegian Shakespeare Review, and Norwegian Pedagogical Review, as well as in several scholarly anthologies.

Hanssen’s pedagogical competence is also strongly affirmed. The committee notes his long and substantial teaching career across the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. His teaching portfolio, many further-education courses, and publications and presentations in subject pedagogy document a reflective, well-developed, and research-based pedagogical practice, proceeding from an evident and well-attested commitment to students’ intellectual development. In addition, Hanssen has also made substantial contributions to academic leadership and administration, and has held a wide range of responsibilities at the institutional and national levels. The committee recognizes him as a leading voice in the current political and scholarly debate in Norway concerning the value and role of literature in education.

In sum, the expert committee’s assessment describes Hanssen as a scholar, teacher, and academic leader whose qualifications are broad, mature, and clearly of professorial standards. His career combines erudite, sophisticated, and rhetorically accomplished research with serious pedagogic engagement and substantial service to the university and the wider field of English studies.