"There is nothing I enjoy more than being in a classroom"

Teacher of the Year Dan Hassler-Forest on enthusiasm, popular culture and creating space for every student

For Dr. Dan Hassler-Forest, Assistant Professor in Media and Performance Studies at Utrecht University, teaching is never simply about transferring knowledge. It is about inviting students to look differently at the world around them. Whether discussing Star Wars, reality television or romantic comedies (which he says are all rewrites of Pride and Prejudice), he encourages students to see the political, economic and cultural forces that shape the media they consume every day.

This year, that dedication has been recognised by the students themselves: Hassler-Forest has been named Teacher of the Year at University College Utrecht.

"It means the world to me," he says. "I was so thrilled to hear that the students looking back on their experience of my course felt that it gave them something, that it mattered."

For him, the award reflects the aspect of academic life he values most. "There is nothing in the world that I enjoy more than being in a classroom with students. At the end of a semester, after doing the whole 15 weeks together as a group, I always feel sad that it's over. "

From movie fan to media scholar

Hassler-Forest's fascination with popular culture started long before he became an academic. Growing up, he developed an obsessive love of film and literature, soon expanding that passion to television and popular music. What began as enthusiasm gradually evolved into critical curiosity.

"I think most people who are really obsessive or very, very passionate about a particular genre or art form inevitably start theorizing it. You start seeing connections and themes emerge, and recognize the social and political ideas that converge around them."

Originally having studied English Literature and Film and Television Studies at the University of Amsterdam, he spent several years working as a translator, editor, subtitler and film journalist before deciding that teaching offered the environment where his interests truly belonged. After completing his PhD, he taught at the University of Amsterdam before joining Utrecht University in 2015, where his research focuses on the relationship between popular culture, politics and society.

Today his expertise ranges from cultural theory and fan studies to race, gender and political economy, but the classroom remains the place where all those interests come together.

Making familiar media unfamiliar

Students entering his courses often expect to talk about films and television they already know. What they discover instead is a different way of looking at them.

Rather than asking whether a film is "good" or "bad", or would be appealing to a certain demographic, Hassler-Forest encourages students to think about why stories are told the way they are, whose interests they serve and how they reflect broader social structures.

"The goal is not to tell students what to think, but to show them new perspectives. Seeing a familiar film through the lens of power, race or culture can fundamentally change how they engage with media, and often with the world beyond it".

Hassler-Forest also touches upon the subject of handling potentially controversial political subject matter, emphasizing that sometimes he will retreat a little from expressing his own views to allow students that might have different perspectives to feel like they can express their own views in the classroom.

“I want to navigate those topics cautiously. Difficult discussions bring with it a kind of self-consciousness, and I really need to watch what I'm saying because of the responsibility that I have for the entire group. While I feel that I have a certain degree of freedom to express my own views, my ideas will also weigh upon everybody else in a different way than when the students discuss them with each other”.

Energy is contagious

Looking back on his own university years, Hassler-Forest remembers the lecturers who inspired him, not because they were the most famous scholars, but because their enthusiasm was impossible to ignore.

One professor's passion for First World War poetry transformed a course he had enrolled in almost by accident into one of the most memorable experiences of his education. Another lecturer brought film style to life by enthusiastically dissecting movie scenes in class. Those experiences shaped the kind of teacher he wanted to become.

"I think enthusiasm and genuine passion are the most important qualities a teacher can have," he says. "If you walk into a classroom with energy, students respond to that. You can't force people to become interested, but you can make curiosity contagious."

Humour also plays an important role. Even when discussing complex or controversial topics such as race, gender or political ideology, he believes students learn best when they feel comfortable participating.

"It’s important students see you can talk about serious topics but still keep it light, and to have a sense of humor in the way that you engage them and approach them. Then students will feel like there's a space to maneuver, and it doesn't feel like my approval of their work will depend on the degree to which they share my opinions”. 

Teaching first

Although universities often reward research achievements most visibly, Hassler-Forest believes excellent teaching deserves equal recognition.

"I've always felt that our primary contribution as a university is teaching, even though the main priority of the institution may lie in research" he says. For Hassler-Forest, the experience students have in the classroom is what stays with them.

Receiving the Teacher of the Year award reinforces that conviction. More than any publication or research milestone, it represents something deeply personal: the appreciation of students whose intellectual journeys he has helped shape.

For Hassler-Forest, there is no greater reward.

"When students look back on a course and feel it genuinely mattered to them," he says, "that's what makes all of this worthwhile."