Critical Culture Theory & Text Praxis
Media, Communication, & Interfaces
Design, Entrepreneurship, & Strategy
Based in Princeton, Berlin, Rhoen
On the Intersection of Theory and Praxis
Konstantin Haensch received his M.A. in Communication in Social and Economic Contexts from Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin), supported by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. At UdK Berlin, he later worked as a Research Assistant and currently completes his dissertation project on the design & strategy history of the connected smart speaker. He has taught B.A. and M.A. courses at UdK Berlin, HTW University of Applied Sciences Berlin, and the University of Potsdam. Currently, he holds a Ph.D. stipend from the German Department at Princeton University.
Situated at the interdisciplinary nexus of aesthetics, media culture, design, and economics/strategy, his research looks into the connections of various epistemologies and materialities that constitute objects of modernity, such as “entrepreneurship,” “interfaces,” and current design and creative dispositifs.
Konstantin Haensch also has a particular interest in the Chinese and East-Asian histories of media and economics. In this context, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong anthropology department as part of a research project on urban ethnography and cultural geography and presented a paper on the Crossroads Cultural Studies conference at Shanghai University.
Outside academia, he worked as a designer, tech-startup founder, branding executive in a digital platform company, and independent strategy consultant.
He is the founder and co-editor of the 8-volume book series texturen (Berlin), ‘Uncanny Issues’ (Hamburg), and co-editor of Genealogy of Media-Thinking (Berlin).
Editorial Work
Book Series “texturen. Buchreihe für texturale Artikulationen”
Genealogy of Media Thinking
Un Series
Selected Papers
- “From ‘Interfacing Objects’ to ‘Interface Things’? Material-Strategic Notes on the Smart Speaker Design.” Heidelberg: 2021. In: Interface Critique Journal
- “Unheimliche Konjunktur und unbehagliche Aktualität der kreativen Tech-Entrepreneurship.” Hamburg: Textem 2021. In: Uncanny Entrepreneurship
- “Das Ungeheuerliche der Metropole – Stimmungsskizze zu Platons Höhlengleichnis als Allegorie auf die Großstadt.” Berlin 2019. In: Ästhetik & Kommunikation
- “Einleitend: Aspekte des Material Turn,” mit Düllo, Thomas. Berlin: UdK Verlag 2019. In: texturen Nr. 4 – Dingen. Buchreihe für texturale Artikulationen
- “Nach dem Unheimlichen. Das ‘Nicht ganz Geheure’ der Interface-Dinge.” Hamburg: Textem: 2019. In: Uncanny Interfaces
- “Die unheimliche Wiederholung im Computerspiel.” Münster, Berlin, Wien, Zürich, London: Lit Verlag 2018. In: Was erzählt Pop?
- “The Magic Interface. Media-Archaeological Notes Based on F. W. Murnau’s ‘Faust’ (1926).” Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos 2016. In: Interface Critique
- Lemma: “Neuland / new land / terra novo, magisch / magic / mágico, Masse / mass(es) / massa, Atlas / atlas / atlas.” Minneapolis: Univocal Publishing 2015. In: Flusseriana. Ein Werkzeugkasten aus Wörtern und Begriffen
- “‘Verwende diese kritische Fähigkeit, der wir das Wort sprechen, gegen uns selbst.’ Das Berliner Gespräch von Harun Farocki mit Vilém Flusser.” Berlin: Akademie der Künste 2015. In: Bodenlos – Vilém Flusser und die Künste
- “Crossmapping – Eine Methode,” with Düllo, Thomas; Kuka, Daniela. Berlin: UdK Verlag 2015. In: texturen Nr.2 – Spielen. Buchreihe für texturale Artikulationen
- “Take the M-Train: Massenhaftes, mobiles, Medienhandeln.” Berlin: UdK Verlag 2015. In: Forum zur Genealogie des Mediendenkens. Bd. 2.
- Lemma: “Manifest / manifest.” Oldenburg: Edith Russ Haus 2014. In: AnArchive(s) – Archaeology & Variantology of Arts & Media
- “Produktionen im kulturellen Als-Ob.” Berlin 2014. In: Ästhetik & Kommunikation
- “Vermessungen eines zerfallenden Lands.” Berlin: UdK Verlag 2013. In: Protocol. Architektur im Kontext
- “Das moderne Dispositiv der Zeit; Kommentar zu Peter Weibel.” Berlin: UdK Verlag 2013. In: Forum zur Genealogie des Mediendenkens.
- “Vom auktorialen Wohnen.” Berlin: UdK Verlag 2013. In: texturen Nr.1 – Wohnen. Buchreihe für texturale Artikulationen
Selected Talks
- Conference Presentation: “‘Smart Home’, ‘Home Automation’ und ‘Shy-Tech:’ Neue Interface-Räume des alltäglichen Unheimlichen und medialen Horrors,” 2021, at: Tagung Horror Medien Räume, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
- Conference Presentation (postponed): “‘Interfacing Spaces:’ Impacts of the Customer-Centricity Paradigm in Technological and Cultural Environments,” 2020, at: Crossroads in Cultural Studies, University of Lisbon, Portugal
- Lecture: “Materialität der Medien und Medialität der Dinge. Transformationen der Dingwelt im Ubiquitären Computing,” 2019, at: Ringvorlesung zu aktuellen Fragen der Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftskommunikation, Berlin University of the Arts Berlin, Germany
- Conference Presentation: “Von der Materialität digitaler Medien zu der Digitalität alltäglicher Materialität am Beispiel von Smart Speakern,” 2019, at: Jahrestagung der Sektion Medien- und Kommunikationssoziologie, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie, University of Gießen, Germany
- Conference Presentation: “Interface-Dinge. Normalisierungen von datafizierter Materialität,” 2019, on the panel “Materialitäten des Interfaces” at: GfM Jahrestagung 2019 “Medien-Materialitäten,” University of Cologne, Germany
- Conference Presentation: “From Unfamiliar to Familiar. Processes of Normalization through TV/Web-Video Content on the Example of Smart Speakers,” 2019, at: Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies – The Future of Democracy in the Digital Age, University of Bonn, Germany
- Participation: “ACS Summer Institute 2019 – The Future of Publics,” 2019, at: Association for Cultural Studies Summer Institute 2019, Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany
- Conference Presentation: “‘Echoes’ in our ‘Home.’ Aspects of the Uncanny of a new Class of Everyday Objects,” 2018, at: Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference 2018, Shanghai University, China
- Presentation: “Das Unheimliche der Schnittstelle,” 2017, at: 3. Promotionskolloquium der Fakultät Gestaltung, Berlin Centre for Advanced Studies in Arts and Sciences, Berlin, Germany
- Conference Presentation: “The Magical Interface – Objects in Cinema as Foreshadowing of Modern Interaction Technology,” 2014, at: Interface Critique Conference, Berlin Univesity of the Arts, Germany
- Exhibition: “Bilder von Einheimischen,” 2014, at: Festival Steirischer Herbst, Institut des Steierischen Herbstes, Schaumfabrik Graz and Vienna, Austria