Dr. Diederik Oostdijk

Biography

Diederik Oostdijk is a Full Professor of English and American Literature at the Faculty of Humanities, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He graduated cum laude with Master’s degrees in American Studies (1994) and English Language Literature (1995) from Radboud University Nijmegen. He was an exchange student at Boston College before completing his Ph.D. in 2000. Oostdijk received a Fulbright grant to conduct archival research in American libraries, mainly the University of Chicago. He teaches American Studies courses at Radboud University and the University of Iowa. Since 2001, he has served as an assistant professor at Vrije Universiteit, focusing on courses related to 19th, 20th, and 21st-century literature and art. His research specializes in 20th-century American poetry, war literature, and memory in war arts. His work includes co-organizing conferences on the reception of war and authoring the monograph "Nightmare Fighters", which looks at how American poets responded to World War II. His publications include "Bells America", and a Dutch version titled "Klokken voor Amerika". Additionally, he has contributed to a bilingual exhibit at the Museum Klok & Peel in the Netherlands and served as the narrator for a documentary on the history of the Netherlands Carillon, aired in October 2020.

Research Interests

Experience