dr. (Pieter) PJBJ van den Heede

Biography

Pieter Van den Heede is a lecturer and researcher at the Department of History at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

In his research, he primarily focuses on the study of historical culture (how people in past and present relate to the past), history didactics, public history and other forms of meta-reflection on history as a scholarly discipline. In addition, he is interested in the study of the Second World War.

In his dissertation 'Engaging with the Second World War through Digital Gaming' (2021), Pieter studied how digital entertainment games such as Call of Duty represent the war and the Holocaust in particular, and how players reflect on playing these games. The PhD project was part of the broader Research Excellence Initiative (REI) ‘War! Popular Culture and European Heritage of Major Armed Conflicts’ (project leader Prof. Maria Grever) (2015-present). This interdisciplinary project was embedded at both the Center for Historical Culture (CHC) (History Department), and the Erasmus Research Center for Media, Commmunication and Culture (ERMeCC).

Pieter teaches courses on the philosophy of history, historical culture and public history. He considers teaching to be one of his great joys in life.