Dr. Stacie Friend

Biography

Stacie Friend joined the University of Edinburgh in 2023 and has a rich teaching background, having taught at Birkbeck, University of London since 2014, as well as at Heythrop College and Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. She also served as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Friend received her PhD from Stanford University in 2002. Her current research interests lie at the intersection of aesthetics, language, and the mind, focusing particularly on engagement with works of fiction. She has published extensively on topics such as cognitive aesthetic values in literature and film, the distinction between fiction and nonfiction, emotional and imaginative responses to narratives, and the representation of reality in fiction. In addition to her research, she serves as the Editor for the journal Analysis, and is the President of the British Society of Aesthetics from 2018 to 2024. Friend has been involved in significant research projects, including directing a Templeton Religion Trust funded interdisciplinary project titled 'Art Opening Minds: Imagination Perspective Film' and co-investigating a three-year Leverhulme Trust research project named 'Learning Fiction'.

Research Interests