Moniek Hover (ENG) (2021)

Telling stories, we all do it. If you’re a student at the Faculty of Humanities, you probably study them too! You can educate yourself in storytelling and incorporate it in organisations or businesses. Do you have an interest in storytelling and would you like to know more about its job opportunities? Moniek Hover has some very interesting things to say!

Giulia Levelt van SV Etna: “Dr. Moniek Hover is ‘Lector’ (Professor) of Storytelling at Breda University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands), where she teaches in the applied and the academic bachelor‘s and master’s programs in the field of leisure, tourism and imagineering.

Moniek received her PhD degree in 2013 for the intrinsic case study of “The Efteling as a ‘Narrator‘of Fairy Tales”. She co-lead the Efteling Academy, an interdisciplinary talent development program for students in the field of research, storytelling, content & brand development, creative production and performance. At Buas she co-leads the cross academies’ BUas research theme “Designing, Managing and Measuring Experiences”, as well as the Academy for Leisure specific research program line of “storytelling and consumer experiences”. She delivers presentations at academic and industry conferences, and she publishes in academic and industry journals.
With interdisciplinary BUas teams, she provides (storytelling-based) research and design projects in the field of leisure and tourism. Examples are the development of a narrative concept/storylines for Van Gogh locations in Brabant (the Netherlands) entitled ‘Becoming Vincent’; the script for an oculus rift serious game (Van Gogh Kerk, Etten-Leur); a narrative concept/storylines/brand guide/book with 75 personal war stories for World War II Heritage Sites in Brabant entitled ‘Crossroads’; a narrative concept and storyline for Santa’s Office, Rovaniemi, Finland; narrative concept and storylines for Zuiderwaterlinie, Markiezenhof Bergen op Zoom, Hanzesteden Marketing.

With other BUas researchers, she leads the CELTH Storysperience projects in which we investigate the links between storytelling on the one hand, and emotions, memories om the other hand. One of the cases in this project is Van Gogh (in Brabant). Moniek is member of the Crossroads Content Council. She does storytelling consultancy, e.g. for Dilemma Doolhof (Enter the Mothership), Stilllevens (Studio Verdult), AR-Crossroads video’s (Dutch Rose Media). She is currently involved in storytelling projects for de Groote Heide, for Van Gogh National Park, and for VisitBrabant/Routebureau around local folk tales and legends. She develops and delivers workshops and training programs for the theme park industry (e.g. IAAPA EMEA), for marketing organizations, for the cultural heritage field (e.g. Erfgoed Brabant), and for stakeholders around hiking/cycling routes.