Welcome to SPACE, our adult continuing education program which offers interactive monthly courses for personal enrichment! Learn more here.
Dr. Kris Swank
Worlds traveler
Kris Swank has been reading fantasy literature since her grandparents gave her a boxed set of The Chronicles of Narnia (in the correct reading order) (she still has it). This inevitably led to a long career as an academic librarian. At Signum, she teaches in the M.A. and SPACE programs on J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, Peter S. Beagle, and a variety of Imaginative Literature subjects. Her happy places include Earth, Middle-earth, Earthsea, Narnia, Colorado, Hawaii, Oxford, Renaissance fairs, and wherever there are food trucks.
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Highlighted Modules
Non-Sequential Series
Non-Sequential Series
All Modules
Le Guin Book Club: Annals of the Western Shore Non-Sequential Series
Discussion-based • Medium intensity
Come explore Ursula K. Le Guin's final fantasy worldbuilding creation, the acclaimed YA fantasy series: Annals of the Western Shore, consisting of three loosely-connected novels: Gifts (2004), Voices (2006), and Powers (2007). Less well-known than her Earthsea or Hanish novels, this acclaimed series focuses on teenagers in the enigmatic "Western Shore" countries who much come to terms with mysterious powers that begin manifesting in puberty. Each week you'll connect with other readers and share your insights. This series is perfect for examining Le Guin's world-building techniques, or for anyone looking for a book club where you can share your thoughts and make some friends.
(Warning: These novels deal with serious issues. Gifts contains brief scenes of maiming. Powers is a first-person account of enslavement and includes a discussion of rape. All three books deal with war.)
Series Outline:
(Warning: These novels deal with serious issues. Gifts contains brief scenes of maiming. Powers is a first-person account of enslavement and includes a discussion of rape. All three books deal with war.)
Series Outline:
- Module 1: Gifts
- Module 2: Voices
- Module 3: Powers (part 1)
- Module 4: Powers (part 2)
The Best of Beagle Book Club (series of 5 or more modules) Non-Sequential Series
Discussion-based • Medium intensity
Over the course of several months, this cozy book club for adults will read and discuss some of the major novels of Peter S. Beagle, a Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master, and the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Mythopoeic and World Fantasy Life Achievement Award winner. We'll explore his many worlds, including the beloved forests of The Last Unicorn, the magical world of The Innkeeper's Song, and fantastic versions of our own world where goddesses, ghosts and dragons walk among us.
Each week you'll connect with other readers and share your insights. This series is perfect for examining Beagle's world-building techniques, or for anyone looking for a cozy book club where you can read old favorites and discover new ones.
(Warning: Participants of Modules 3 & 4 must be at least 18 due to brief depictions of nudity and sex.)
Series Outline:
Each week you'll connect with other readers and share your insights. This series is perfect for examining Beagle's world-building techniques, or for anyone looking for a cozy book club where you can read old favorites and discover new ones.
(Warning: Participants of Modules 3 & 4 must be at least 18 due to brief depictions of nudity and sex.)
Series Outline:
- Module 1: A Fine & Private Place (1960)
- Module 2: The Last Unicorn (1968)
- Module 3: The Innkeeper's Song (1993)
- Module 4: Summerlong (2016)
- Module 5: I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons (2024)