Jessica Allen Hanssen

Professor Faculty of Education and Arts
E-mail:
jessica.a.hanssen@nord.no
Phone:
+47 75 51 77 78
Mobile:
Office:
CA3415

About me

I am a Professor of English subject pedagogy in the Department of English​ at Nord University and the faculty coordinator for the Bachelor of English degree. My primary areas of interest are American literature, especially 19th and early 20th century fiction, short-story theory, narratology, YA fiction, and middle grades English education.

I have served as faculty coordinator for the Bachelor of English degree program (BAENG) since​ 2012. My main responsibilities as faculty coordinator include academic quality assurance, national and international profiling, and intra-faculty communication. Nord University's Bachelor of English has been rated highest in student satisfaction in Norway among similar bachelor degree programmes for the consecutive years of 2017-21. (NOKUT Study Barometer). 

In 2021,​ I was awarded Nord University's Accredited Teacher (merittert underviser) distinction.​

BACKGROUND

Dr. Philos in American Literature, University of Oslo, 2010

PPU (Practical Pedagogical Education, Grades 5-10), Nord University, 2010

Master of Arts in English, Valdosta State University, USA, 2003

Bachelor of Arts in English, Valdosta State University, USA, 2000​

Teaching

COURSES 

I am part of a team responsible for teaching British and American literature for both the Bachelor of English, Master of Middle Grades Education, and Senior Lecturer of Social Sciences degrees. Addtionally, I teach part of an MA course for teacher education students called "Critical Reflections on Literature and Language Teaching in English Teaching Practices." I also teach or co-teach courses in Research and Writing, American Fiction after 1945, and Crime Fiction for BA students, as well as coordinate BA thesis supervision for Bachelor of English students. 

In previous years, I have taught classes on young adult fiction, fantasy narratives, English Didactics for Grades ​8-13, Business English, American Fiction after 1945, and Hawthorne vs. Melville. 

My teaching responsibilities include BA, MA, PhD, and practicum supervision, as well as in-service training for English teachers on a rotating basis. 

In 2014, I was awarded Nord's (then University of Nordland) faculty prize for creating an Outstanding Learning Environment for the subject of English for students and staff (læringsmiljøprisen). 

Research

RESEARCH AND PROJECT WORK

My education research focuses on the intersection of critical theory and middle grades English education and the early introduction of critical reading, and especially reader-response and narratology-based teaching strategies, into the Norwegian national curriculum.

My literary research applies ideas on structure, narrative persona, and closure, as derived from contemporary short-story theory, to 19th century American writers such as Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

I have recently published articles on diverse themes, including unnatural narratology in Frankenstein, English teaching methodology, YA sustainability narratives, Hawthorne's A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, and Irving's The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

I coordinated the 2018 Frankenreads project at Nord University. I am a founding member of Nord's Humanities, Education and Culture research group.​​​​