Karin Fikkers is assistant professor in the Language & Communication group of the department Languages, Literature & Communication and the Institute for Language Sciences. She teaches in the bachelor Communication and Information Sciences. She is chair of the curriculum committee of this programme. As tutor coordinator for the bachelor programme and the faculty of Humanities, she also strives towards better guidance of students throughout their programme.

Research-wise, she studies the effects (interactive) stories can have on the feelings, thoughts and behavior of people. In her dissertation research, Karin studied which teens are more (or less) susceptible to the negative effects of violent media entertainment on aggressive behavior. In 2016, Karin defended her dissertation with honors ('cum laude') at the University of Amsterdam. For her dissertation, she received the Kyoon Hur dissertation award of the Mass Communication divisie of the International Communication Association. Together with various colleagues, Karin has also won multiple prizes for her papers. 

Current projects I'm involved in:

• Can an educational game teach primary school students more about the immune system and vaccination? Together with medical doctors from the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital and UU researchers from the humanities and social sciences, we received a grant for this project from the Youth Education and Life Skills community of Dynamics of Youth. Data collection starts in the spring of 2026. 
• With the help of a seed fund from Pathways of Sustainability, I'm studying how an interactive documentary can contribute to more sustainable outcomes. I have interviewed 19 participants for this study and written a first paper about these data. A second paper as well as an interactive symposium will follow in 2026. 
• Together with Tina Venema and Laura Weiss, I'm researching the effects of hopeful versus fearful climate communication on happiness and sustainable outcomes. 

My most recent completed projects:

• Does the interactive documentary Grandfather's Century lead to more positieve attitudes about sustainable behavior compared to a non-interactive version? 
  Together with Renske van Enschot, Judith Prins, and Christian Roth. Read the article here.
• Can an escape room contribute to more knowledge and favorable attitudes towards Open Science? 
  Together with Anita Eerland and Alexander Gierholz, I developed the online escape room Last Contact. Read more about the project - or play the escape room yourself!

For more information about my research interests, see my personal website. 

This page was last updated in November 2025.