English scholar and educator Dr Claire Hansen receives national teaching award from Universities Australia

Source: https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/english-scholar-and-educator-dr-claire-hansen-receives-national-teaching-award-from-universities Parent: https://www.anu.edu.au/

27 Feb 2026

Dr Claire Hansen. Photo: Tangyao Zhang

Dr Claire Hansen from The Australian National University (ANU) College of Arts and Social Sciences has been recognised by the Universities Australia 2025 Australian Awards for University Teaching.

These awards celebrate outstanding educators who demonstrate excellence in teaching, leadership and enhancing the student experience across Australian universities.

Dr Hansen is a Senior Lecturer in English and Associate Dean (Student Experience & Integrity) at the ANU, specialising in Shakespeare studies and ecocriticism.

She has won multiple teaching awards, including a 2024 ANU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Education and a national Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2021.

Dr Hansen’s teaching approach focuses on a ‘passionate learning model’ that she developed, which places engagement, creativity, and authenticity at the heart of student learning.

The passionate learning model emphasises building supportive environments, fostering creativity in assessment, and empowering students to see how the study of literature is vital to understanding—and shaping—the world around them.

Dr Hansen’s research explores the intersection of literature and the environment, with recent field-leading work on place-based approaches to teaching Shakespeare published by Cambridge University Press.

Drawing on this research, she designs innovative curricula and creative assessment that connect literary studies to urgent contemporary issues, demonstrating its relevance beyond the classroom. Read more about the Universities Australia 2025 Australian Awards for University Teaching.

Claire Hansen: Passionate Learning with Shakespeare

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English scholar and educator Dr Claire Hansen receives national teaching award from Universities Australia

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