TRANSFORMATIVE READING
How Literature Changes Lives
Transformative Reading is an evidence-based reading program. It focuses on living through the experience of fiction literature (rather than the traditional focus on analysis and interpretation). It enhances readers’ cognitive and emotional capacities, such as sympathy, moral reasoning, empathy, our ability to think and feel like fictional and real others, among other benefits. Ultimately, it improves our social functioning.
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On this website, you find information about how this educational program has been applied in education (at primary, secondary, and higher levels), in business (leadership), and in medical ethics.
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If you’re hoping to implement the program at your school or at the corporate sector, I’ll provide you with sound advice and professional guidance every step of the way. I also offer individual consultation. Take a look at my site and see all that I can do for you.
ABOUT ME
Olivia Fialho
Creator and convenor of Transformative Reading teaching and research
I am Assistant Professor at the Comparative Literature section at Utrecht University and Senior Researcher in Empirical and Computational Literary Studies at the Huygens Institute (KNAW, Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences).
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I specialize in empirical, computational and cognitive literary studies. My research focuses on the impact of fiction reading on personal and social transformation.
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Short Bio
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I hold a BA in Letters (Portuguese-English) and an MA in Applied Linguistics, both from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta (2012). From 2008 to 2011, I served as Instructor in Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta. From 2013 to 2014, I was Assistant Professor at the Core Department at the University College Roosevelt (UCR).
In 2014, I was awarded the position of Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Media and Cultural Studies at Utrecht University, funded by NWO, where I worked until 2018, when I became Assistant Professor at the Honours Leadership Programme at Utrecht University. In 2019, I was awarded a highly competitive position as Postdoctoral Researcher, funded by Literature, Cognition and Emotions (LCE) at the University of Oslo.
In 2021, she returned to the Netherlands as Postdoctoral Researcher at the Impact and Fiction Project at the Huygens Institute and as Lecturer in Comparative Literature at Utrecht University. In 2022, I became Senior Researcher at the Huygens Institute and Assistant Professor in Comparative Literature at Utrecht University.
Transformative Reading originates in my PhD dissertation Self-Modifying Reading: A Model for Reader Response (2012) and has helped acquire over 3.5 million euros in research funds, including, most recently, the project “Uses of NarrativeFiction in Social Contexts: Changes in Self and Social Perceptions”, funded by NWO (2014-2018); the ERC Advanced Grant “MORE: Moral residue – epistemological ramifications, ethical implications, and didactic opportunities” (2022-2027).
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I coordinate the IGEL coalition group Openness, Intensive Reflection, and Self-Altering Literary Reading.
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As an Educational Consultant, I believe in maintaining a positive mindset, creating partnerships with a purpose, and always striving for significant outcomes. When you work with me, you should expect a collaboration with transparency and consistency. Want to learn more? Contact me today for an initial consultation.
