Yasemin Nurcan Hacioglu

Bio

I am especially interested in the intersection of philosophy of mind and feminist politics. I primarily research histories of feminist art and fiction strategies, with a focus on how the arts can enable us to construct new feelings, decisions, social movements, 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. My monograph "Thinking through Poems: Composition, Emotion, and Decision-Making in Romantic-Era Women's Novels" is schedules to be published with Bloomsbury US in 2026. Listen to a podcast episode or read a summary of the research here (in Norwegian). 

Research Projects

I am co-organising a new collaborative research project with Gudrun Juuhl, on narrative and rhetorical "scaffoldings" of social transformation—through building and analysing the archive of Volda's first Pride: "Bygdepride: Transformative Rhetorics". Together we have established a network researching Scandinavian rural Pride. Please be in touch if you are interested to join. 

I am also interested in collaborating on exploring the role of arts in changing feelings, minds, and decisions, especially in teacher training. I organised a symposium, "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). 

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 Survey 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.