Christiana Werner

Dr. Christiana Werner is a Research Associate at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) within the AHRC/DFG project How Does It Feel? Interpersonal Understanding and Affective Empathy. She previously held a postdoctoral position at the University of Göttingen and a temporary role at Justus Liebig University Giessen in the Mind and Imagination research group. Her work bridges philosophy of mind, epistemology, and aesthetics, focusing on empathy's epistemic role.

Education:

• PhD in Philosophy (University of Regensburg, 2012)
• Habilitation equivalent via Postdoc at UDE

Research Interests: Christiana investigates how empathy and emotions facilitate understanding in social cognition and literary contexts, with a recent emphasis on epistemic and affective injustice. Her methodological approach combines analytical philosophy with interdisciplinary collaborations in psychology and literary studies.

Project Leadership: She co-coordinated the DFG-funded Feeling and Understanding: The Role of Empathy in Understanding People and Literature network (2018–2023) with Thomas Petraschka. Current projects include Interpersonal and Phenomenal Understanding within the AHRC/DFG initiative.

Publications: Author of How to Create Things with Words (2015) and co-editor of influential volumes like Imagination and Experience: Philosophical Explorations (2024) and Empathy’s Role in Understanding Persons, Literature, and Art (2023). Her work appears in journals such as Analysis, Philosophical Explorations, and The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.

Teaching: Offers courses on analytical feminist philosophy, empathy, and philosophical explorations at UDE. She has presented at conferences including the Rhein Ruhr Epistemology Network Meeting (2024) and AHRC/DFG project events.