Kathy Hansen

Kathy came to Colby in 2022 to work in the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) before also working with a team of colleagues to start the Program for Academic Success and Transformative Learning in 2023. In addition to contributing to CTL programming like Mid-Semester Course Analyses, the Celebration of Teaching, and Course (re)Design Institutes, she also provides in-class workshops for faculty in various aspects of multimodal communication (including presentation praxis), oversees the continuing “Stalled” poster campaign, and directs the Schmaltz Family Effective Communication Initiative.

Prior to working at Colby, she taught scientific communication and literature for specific purposes at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. She began her academic career at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, where she earned tenure in the English Department. She earned her Ph.D. in English Language and Literature at the University of Southern California.                                           

She has published work in the Journal of Academic Ethics, Children’s Literature, Children’s Literature in Education, English Journal, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, Configurations, and Inside Higher Ed, among other outlets. Her academic interests include applied humanities pedagogies, active and inclusive learning methods, effective multimodal communication, young adult literature, narrative theory, and gender studies.

While helping students create their best opportunities for academic success and assisting faculty in engaging in continuous improvement of their pedagogy are Kathy’s professional passions, she also loves to spend time with her husband Ed, play frisbee with her dog Gromit, and travel (especially to places with quirky museums). She’s lived in Connecticut, Kansas, Texas, California, and South Carolina as well as in Sweden. She holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Sweden and finds it hard to refuse an invitation for Swedish fika.