short vita

Since the 2014–15 winter semester, I have been a professor of the history and theory of visual culture at the Berlin University of the Arts, Faculty of Design, as well as deputy spokesperson for the DFG Research Training Group “The Knowledge of the Arts” (through 2022).

I initially studied communication design at the University of Essen, Aalto University in Helsinki, and West Surrey College of Art and Design in the UK, followed by cultural studies and art history at Humboldt University in Berlin. In 2007, I earned my Ph.D. there with a dissertation on the history of media and knowledge.

Before joining the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), I held a professorship in the theory and history of contemporary media at the University of Oldenburg and worked as a research assistant at various universities and art colleges, including the Braunschweig University of Art, the Institute of Art History at Freie Universität Berlin, and the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. In addition, I served as a visiting professor in the European Media Studies program in Potsdam. 


In addition to my university duties, I have repeatedly carried out collaborative projects. In 1998, I co-founded the online magazine *Nach dem Film*, and in 2007, I co-curated the exhibition *die stadt von morgen* at the Berlin Academy of Arts to mark the 50th anniversary of Berlin’s Hansaviertel. In addition, I was a founding member and, for many years, editor-in-chief of the *Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft* (Journal of Media Studies), which is published by the Society for Media Studies and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Today, I serve on the advisory board of the ZfM.

My research focuses on gender and media, digital visual culture, the theory and history of photography, and the history of design.

In terms of higher education policy, I have been active since 2018 on the Commission for Equal Opportunity (at times as chair) and as the representative of the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) in the Working Group of Women’s and Gender Studies Institutions. I am also the Executive Director of the Institute for the History and Theory of Design.