Alumni Master Teacher: Allen N. Swords ’97, M ’02

Students chose Allen N. Swords as the 2022 Alumni Master Teacher. Swords is a senior lecturer in the Department of English of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, and he teaches courses on sequential art, Holocaust literature and art, and the Vietnam War and Star Wars mythos. The award for outstanding undergraduate classroom instruction is presented each spring to a faculty member nominated by the student body and selected by the Student Alumni Council.

“I am speechless. Humbled. Proud. And stunned,” Swords said. “I had no idea I was even nominated or in the running.”

Sarah Gibson, who took six classes with Swords, said that he is “by far the most caring and thoughtful professor out there. He comes to class with the most positive attitude and will go to great lengths to make every student feel heard and appreciated.”

Swords received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in English from Clemson.