Dr. Kris Swank

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.

Kris has been with Signum University since Day 1 and was a student in the very first graduating class! Her thesis was on J.R.R. Tolkien's Roverandom. In addition to her Signum M.A., she has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Glasgow where she wrote her thesis on Tolkien’s Irish library. Kris has published extensively, including in Journal of Tolkien Research, Mythlore, Tolkien Studies, and UKL: The Journal of Ursula K. Le Guin Studies. She also serves on the editorial boards of Mythlore and UKL.