Dr. Katrin Glinka

Cultural Studies & HCI & Design


I am passionate about culture and digital technologies. My expertise lies in bringing both areas together in a meaningful way. In recent years, I have especially worked on applying visualisation techniques to cultural data and on exploring interaction concepts in the context of digital research approaches in the humanities and museum interpretation.

My work is guided by the conviction that digital technologies offer the potential to re-think and re-configure research and practices in the humanities and in cultural institutions, allow us to implement critical and interventionist approaches, and strengthen visitor orientation and accessibility in museums. I believe in the value of collaboration and enjoy working with colleagues from different disciplines, which regularly challenges me to explore new practices and methods. The strongest influences on my academic and applied work have come from fields such as design, human-centred computing, and critical cartography.

My dissertation »Festgeschrieben - Cultural-technical manifestations of museum collection orders and transformative effects of digital technologies« is concerned with the institutionalised form of collecting in European museums. I analyse the effects of digital socio-technical systems in museum collection documentation, especially regarding knowledge representation. For this, I combine a theoretical approach grounded in cultural studies with a practice-oriented perspective informed by critical museology, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and visualisation research. Conclusively, I address the question of whether and in what way digital socio-technical systems and algorithmic processes can amplify or trigger »transformative impulses« in the context of museum collecting.

In June 2024 I joined the Ada Lovelace Center for Digital Humanities at Freie Universität Berlin where I am responsible for the scientific coordination and act as head of the administrative office of the center. From November 2020 until May 2024, I worked at the Human-Centered Computing Research Group at Freie Universität Berlin as head of the HCC Data Lab. As the scientific lead for the project museum4punkt0 (2017 - 2020) at the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, I developed and evaluated various digital applications for museums. Before that, I was a research associate at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, where I continued to teach media and design theory until spring 2020.

Curriculum Vitae

1. Work

  • 2024 - ongoing — Berlin, Germany

    Scientific coordination and head of the center's administrative office

    ,
    Freie Universität Berlin, Ada Lovelace Center for Digital Humanities (ADA)

    The »Ada Lovelace Center for Digital Humanities (ADA)« systematically gathers, connects and promotes digital humanities activities at Freie Universität.

  • 2020 - 2024 — Berlin, Germany

    Head of HCC Data Lab

    ,
    Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Computer Science, Resarch Group Human-Centered Computing (HCC)

    Conception and establishment of formats for interdisciplinary knowledge transfer and research at the intersection between computer science, human-centred computing, the humanities and social sciences.

  • 2017 - 2020 — Berlin, Germany

    Scientific Project Lead

    ,
    museum4punkt0, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

    Programmatic, strategic, and scientific development of the overall project. Concept and development of digital applications for museums. Publication and lecture activities. Evaluation and reporting.

  • 2015 - 2020 — Potsdam, Germany

    Lecturer

    ,
    Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Design Department

    Courses on cultural theory, visualisation, and interface design for cultural institutions.

  • 2014 - 2017 — Potsdam, Germany

    Research Associate

    ,
    Potsdam University of Applied Sciences

    Research Associate at the »UCLAB« in the research project »VIKUS - Visualisation of Cultural Collections«. Visualisation research, digital humanities, digital art history, design theory. Conception and writing of research proposals, publication and lecture activities.

  • 2014 - 2014 — Berlin, Germany

    Self employed

    ,
    freelance work (selection)

    VISLAB: Co-Founder - research, website editing and development. WHITE RABBIT: editor online marketing. DREINULL: Production office assistant. Koenig & Clinton Gallery (NY): art fair production & sales at Art Cologne. beamAround: marketing consulting, consulting online presence.

  • 2013 - 2014 — Berlin, Germany

    Head of Press & Communications

    ,
    Press work, initiating media partnerships, guided tours, social media communication, website & newsletter editing, collection database integration, print production (Maternity Leave Cover).

  • 2012 - 2013 — Berlin, Germany

    Self employed

    ,
    freelance work (selection)

    Gallery Leo Koenig (NY): Art fair production & sales at Art Cologne. Nowadays: coordinator production office, Hugo Boss Show. Gallery CRONE Berlin: art fair support at abc - art berlin contemporary. Gallery Kornfeld: Editor and co-translator of exhibition catalogue.

  • 2012 - 2012 — Berlin, Germany

    Press & Communications, Project Management

    ,
    District Berlin

    Press and public relations for exhibition project, print production and mailings, social media communication, project management, writing and coordination of grant applications, accounting, concept development for website, supervision of CMS implementation.

  • 2011 - 2012 — Berlin, Germany

    Project Management & Art Marketing Advisor

    ,

    Art for Industry

    Project management and event organisation. Consulting and mediation between corporate clients and public institutions. Implementation of marketing strategies in museum cooperations (e.g. with Hamburger Kunsthalle, Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin). Collection management, database management.

  • 2007 - 2010 — Lüneburg, Germany

    Curatorial Assistant

    ,

    Halle für Kunst Lüneburg

    Co-conception and production of exhibitions, publications, and mediation programs. Writing and coordination of grant applications. Accounting.

  • 2007 — Lüneburg, Germany

    Tutor

    ,
    Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institut für angewandte Medienforschung

    Tutor for the compulsory course 'Cultural Studies Basic Course' on 'The Culture of the 1920s' in the Department of Applied Cultural Studies.

2. Education

3. Publications

4. Teaching

  • 2023 — Visiting Lecturer (October 2023)

    Collection Technologies and Human-AI Collaboration,

    Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, USA
  • 2022 — Workshop

    Digitale Arbeitstreffen »dive in«, Themenbereich »Verbindung digitaler und analoger Formate«,

    Kulturstiftung des Bundes
  • 2021 — Workshop at the »Visualizing Open Access« Summer School

    Visualization Review and Critique,

    FU Berlin in cooperation with Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, HU Berlin and Open Access Büro Berlin
  • 2020 — Workshop

    Digitale Strategien für Kultureinrichtungen,

    digiS - Forschungs- und Kompetenzzentrum Digitalisierung Berlin
  • 2019 — Seminar

    Was soll schon schiefgehen? Kulturtheorie als kritische Gegenwartsreflexion,

    Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Design Department
  • 2018 — Workshop

    Promoting the Museum in the Digital Age,

    ICOM - International Council of Museums, Capacity Building Programme at Qatar Museums
  • 2018 — Seminar

    Active Archives - Engaging Interfaces,

    Potsdam University of Applied Sciences - in collaboration with HyperStudio at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
  • 2016 — Seminar

    Die Regierung des kreativen Körpers und das erschöpfte Selbst,

    Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Design Department
  • 2016 — Workshop

    Zeigen, Nutzen, Explorieren - digitale Sammlungen visualisieren,

    Servicestelle Digitalisierung Berlin (digiS)
  • 2015 — Seminar

    Warum Foucault keine Smartwatch trägt,

    Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Design Department
  • 2015 — Workshop

    Was machen mit den Daten? Museumsdisplay und Museum im Display,

    Servicestelle Digitalisierung Berlin (digiS)
  • 2014 - 2017 — Seminar (Co-teaching)

    Visualisierung kultureller Sammlungen,

    Potsdam University of Applied Sciences

5. Talks (selection)

  • 2025 — Berlin, Germany

    Panel: »Open Science und Künstliche Intelligenz in der Wissenschaft«,

    Yes, we are open!? Künstliche Intelligenz verantwortungsvoll gestalten, Weizenbaum-Institut, Berlin
  • 2024 — Virtual event

    #arthistoCast Folge 12: Digitalität und Kunstgeschichte - ein Theorie- und Metagespräch über aktuelle Debatten,

    #arthistoCast - der Podcast zur Digitalen Kunstgeschichte (https://doi.org/10.11588/heidicon/1738702), produziert von Jacqueline Klusik-Eckert im Auftrag des Arbeitskreises Digitale Kunstgeschichte
  • 2023 — Berlin, Germany

    »Gestaltungsziel: kritische Reflexion. Digitale Vermittlung und datenbasierte Interaktionen aus der Perspektive der Human-Computer Collaboration«,

    Roundtable Discussion »Digital Storytelling in Classical Studies«, Freie Universität Berlin
  • 2023 — Los Angeles, USA

    »Collection Technologies between Continuity and Transformation«,

    Getty Research Institute
  • 2023 — Virtual event

    »Computer Vision und Kunstgeschichte: Überlegungen zu einer nachhaltigen Zusammenarbeit«,

    Digitaltag Kunstgeschichte 2023: Nachhaltigkeit, Deutscher Verband für Kunstgeschichte e.V., Ulmer Verein - Verband für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften e.V. und Arbeitskreis Digitale Kunstgeschichte
  • 2022 — Aachen, Germany

    »Alter Kanon, neuer Bias. Machine Learning und Wissensrepräsentation in Museen«,

    Training the Archive Conference on »Art and Algorithms«. Ludwig Forum Aachen
  • 2022 — Berlin, Germany

    »Wer dient hier wem? Voraussetzungen für kritisch-reflexive Human-AI Collaboration«,

    Digital * Humanities im Gespräch, Freie Universität Berlin
  • 2021 — Halle/Saale, Germany (virtual event)

    »Visitor-Oriented Design Research. Interaktion und Partizipation methodisch gestalten«,

    HoloLab #2 - Digitale Ideenwerkstätten im Programm dive in. Kulturstiftung des Bundes
  • 2020 — Berlin, Germany (virtual event)

    »Strukturen von Ähnlichkeit - Repräsentation und Verweis in digitalen Sammlungen«,

    Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
  • 2020 — Halle/Saale, Germany (virtual event)

    »Wir müssen reden: interdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit in Digitalprojekten«,

    Digital Lab #1 - Akademie im Fonds Digital. Kulturstiftung des Bundes
  • 2020 — Basel, Switzerland (virtual event)

    Online-Talk »Wissensort Museum?«,

    Panel with Régine Bonnefoit, Sonja Gasser, Katrin Glinka and Bernd M. Scherer. Kunstmuseum Basel
  • 2020 — Svolvær, Norway (virtual event)

    »Imagining the Future: one Project at a time«,

    Future Digital Possibilities, CINE TALKS: See the Past - Imagine the Future
  • 2020 — Berlin, Germany (virtual event)

    »Gaze-Based Interaction and Object-Centred Learning in Mixed Reality: a Museum Case Study«,

    What is the Digital Doing? A Workshop in the Interface. EXC 2020: Temporal Communities
  • 2020 — Stockholm, Sweden (virtual event)

    »Digital Technologies in Museums: A Field of Interdisciplinary Research«,

    DIGARV Seminar: Digital Tools & Methods
  • 2020 — Jakarta, Indonesia (virtual event)

    Keynote: »The Future of Open GLAM«,

    Goethe-Institut Indonesien: Festival Retas Budaya
  • 2020 — Düsseldorf & Ulm, Germany (virtual event)

    »GLAMs im digitalen Wandel - Barbara K. Fischer & Katrin Glinka im Gespräch«,

    nextmuseum.io
  • 2020 — Bologna, Italy (virtual event)

    »Visual Representations of Thought: on Museum Displays and Visualization Interfaces«,

    9th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science (ESHS)
  • 2019 — Berlin, Germany

    »Anwendungen und Perspektiven der digitalen Geschichtsvermittlung«, Panel-Talk on the occasion of the event »20 Jahre Lebendiges Museum Online (LeMO)«,

    Deutsches Historisches Museum and Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
  • 2019 — Heidelberg, Germany

    »Visualisation Critique and Critical Visualisations«,

    Heidelberg Computational Humanities Summer School, Universität Heidelberg
  • 2019 — Berlin, Germany

    »Nicht in Stein gemeißelt - Museen im digitalen Wandel«,

    re:publica19, Berlin
  • 2019 — Berlin, Germany

    »Potenziale von Datenvisualisierung für die geisteswissenschaftliche Forschung und Vermittlung«,

    Digital * Humanities im Gespräch #4, Freie Universität Berlin
  • 2018 — Berlin, Germany

    »Schnittstellen, Austausch, Prozesse - Offenheit als Fundament von Innovation«,

    Konferenz zur digitalen Entwicklung des Kulturbereichs. Technologiestiftung Berlin, Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa
  • 2017 — Washington DC, USA

    »Visualisation as a means for museum education and mediation«,

    Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
  • 2015 — Munich, Germany

    »Visualisierung kultureller Sammlungen - Exploration und Vermittlung von digitalisierten Beständen«,

    Lecture series »Digitale Kunstgeschichte« at the Institute of Art History, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
  • 2015 — Newcastle, UK

    »Re-thinking Museum Display in the digital Realm. Critical Approaches in Collection Interfaces and Visualisations«,

    Open Lab, Newcastle University

6. Grants, Stipends & Summer Schools

  • 2023 — Minneapolis, USA

    Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)

    Travel Grant,

    26th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work And Social Computing 2023

  • 2023 — Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik, Germany

    Visualization and the Humanities: Towards a Shared Research Agenda

    Dagstuhl Seminar 23381,

  • 2017 — Washington DC, USA

    International Cartographic Association

    Travel Grant,

    International Cartographic Conference 2017

  • 2017 — Bern, Switzerland

    DARIAH/CLARIN

    Travel Grant,

    DHd Bern 2017

  • 2017 — Munich, Germany

    VolkswagenStiftung

    Spring School,

    »Coding Dürer«, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

  • 2016 — Zurich, Switzerland

    Getty Foundation

    Summer School,

    »Digital Collections«, ETH Zurich & Swiss Institute for Art Research (SIK-ISEA)

Background image: tapet, Länsmuseet Gävleborg, CC BY-SA