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.

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 Academiy of Fine Arts Leipzig, 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. 


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.

For the 2024–2028 term, I am an elected member of the Review Board 1.13 Art History, Music, Theatre and Media Studies at the German Research Foundation (DFG). From 2016 to 2022, I was deputy spokesperson for the DFG Research Training Group “The Knowledge of the Arts” at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). In addition, I was a founding member and, for many years, editor-in-chief of the Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft (Journal of Media Studies). Today, I serve on the advisory board of the ZfM.

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.

In terms of higher education policy, I have been active at the UdK Berlin since 2018 on the Commission for Equal Opportunity (serving as chair for many years) and at the Contact Point against Discrimination and Violence (chair). I am also the Director of the Institute for the History and Theory of Design and an elected member of the Academic Senate.

My research focuses on gender and media, the theory and history of photography, the history of design, and Critical University Studies.

Links

Visual Culture Studies

Publications, Presentations