dr. V.N. (Vera) Veldhuizen

PhD at the University of Cambridge.

Affiliations: Faculty of Education, Homerton College.

“Empathy, Ethics, and Justice Development Through Children’s War Literature”.
Cognitive narratological research on empathy, ethics, and justice development in children’s war literature. Using war as a narrative setting which enhances the emotional and moral experience both diegetically and extradiegetically, this research proves the impact of narrative strategies of children’s war literature on the construction of both empathy and morality in its young readership. My viva voce was January 2020, examined by Professor Michael Burke and Professor Karen Coats.

Edinburgh University.

MSc Literature and Society: Enlightenment, Romantic, Victorian (Merit).

A broad degree covering British and Irish literary works. My dissertation was focused on the construction of child identity through concepts of the family and home in children’s literature.

BA at University College Roosevelt.

Final year optional independent research project analysed the depictions of female villains in British children’s literature in comparison with the developments within the feminist movement.
Main courses studied: Literature (Comparative; Critical Theory; Life Writing; Adaptation), Linguistics (Cognitive Linguistics; Stylistics; General Theory), Rhetoric, Theatre and Media Studies, and Spanish (I; II).