“The Low Countries were the most literate area in early modern Europe. The Netherlands are now lagging behind in reading and writing skills, how can we improve this?”

Research focus: literacy and eduaction, digital analyses of early modern Dutch texts

Els Stronks is Professor of Early Modern Dutch Literature at the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication at Utrecht University.

Impact: multimedia educational platforms

Stronks' education and research focus on reading and writing education and digital analysis of early modern Dutch texts. Her digital research into the authorship of the Dutch national anthem served as a case study; she now focuses on Dutch discourses of plants and animals. Her research into reading and writing education resulted in LitLab.nl  (a digital laboratory for literature research), SchrijfLab.nl (experimental writing education, developed with Micha Hamel) and Taalbaas (online masterclasses by Zaiïre Krieger, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, Danièl Kolf en Khalid Kasem). In January 2024 she will start the NWA project Becoming Literate in a Digital Age.