Yasemin Nurcan Hacioglu

Bio

I am especially interested in the intersection of philosophy of mind and feminist politics. I primarily research histories of feminist fiction, with a focus on how the arts can enable us to construct new feelings, decisions, and philosophies.

I am an Associate Professor, having joined Volda as a permanent member of staff in Autumn 2023, following lecturing and research positions at three Norwegian universities (UiO, NTNU, UiS). I received my PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Oslo (Autumn 2021). My thesis investigates how poems in popular women's novels at the turn of the nineteenth century demonstrate methods for re-imagining situations, crafting socially unexpected responses, and experimenting with new decisions, to women readers. I am currently working on my monograph "Thinking through Poems: Composition, Emotion, and Decision-Making in Romantic-Era Women's Novels" (contract with Bloomsbury US). Listen to a podcast episode or read a summary of the research here (in Norwegian). 

In new research directions, I am exploring cognitive approaches to trauma, emotions, and agency in feminist contemporary art and young adult graphic novels. I am also involved in a new collaborative research project, on cognitive and rhetorical "scaffolding" of social transformation through language—through building and analying the archive of Volda's first Pride.

In my development of networks and research for these projects, I organised a symposum, "Thinking with Art: Emotion, Memory, and the Body" (Autumn 2023; read about it here). For students and academics, I organised an event on graphic novels featuring talks from both the artists of graphic novels and academics, "Human Rights, Trauma, Art and Recovery in the Graphic Novel" (Spring 2024; read about it here). I am currently co-organising a research symposium on Volda Bygdepride, to be held 2nd-3rd October 2024. 

I lead the Consciousness and Cognition Research Group (In Norwegian: Volda Medvitsforum/Volda Consciousness Forum). This is an interdisciplinary discussion forum, open to all interested in exploring questions about mind and experience, in connection with both individuals and society. Please see our organised events and get in touch to suggest collaborations or to become a member. 

Research Affiliations 

• Leader: Volda MEDVITSFORUM / Cognition and Consciousness Research Group. 
• Associate researcher with the Literature, Cognition and Emotions research group at the University of Oslo. 
• Multisensory reading (SENSE-READ) at the University of Stavanger.
• Literary and Cultural Eighteenth-Century Studies (LACES) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
• Discourses of Gender and Sexuality (DoGS) at HVL.
• Research Group for Literature at Volda University College.

Teaching Background

UiS, Specialization in English Literature: From Pre-Critical Reader Responses to Critical Traditions with Literary Texts ENG271 (Spring 2023)

UiS, Reading Verbal and Visual Signs MLI345 (Autumn 2022)

NTNU, Literature and Society ENG2303 (Spring 2022)

NTNU, Prose ENG1303 (Spring 2022)

UiO, Comparative Literature. "The Gothic Tale: Aesthetics, Material Cultures and Politics 1790 to the Present." Course design here: LIT2340 (Autumn 2021). 

UiO, British Literature. Introductory British Literature Survery Course ENG1303 (Spring 2021)

Education

PhD in Comparative Literature, University of Oslo, 2017-2021.

MSt English (1700-1830), University of Oxford, 2015-2016.

MA (Undergraduate) English Literature, University of Edinburgh, 2011-2015.