Martina HeßlerView profile
Professor
Martina Heßler is Professor of History of Technology at the Technical University of Darmstadt since February 2019. Previously, she held professorships at Helmut-Schmidt-Universität, Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg (2010-2019) and Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach (2006-2009). She has established herself as a leading scholar in the historical anthropology of technology, with significant contributions to understanding human-technology relations throughout history. Her academic journey includes completing her habilitation in January 2006 with the thesis "Das Städtische als Metapher. Zum Verhältnis von Stadt und Wissenschaft im 20. Jahrhundert" and her dissertation in August 2000 titled "Mrs. Modern Woman. Zur Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte der Haushaltstechnisierung in Deutschland." She was a doctoral candidate in the graduate college "Technisierung und Gesellschaft" at TU Darmstadt from 1997-1999, following research positions at RWTH Aachen and the Center for History of Science and Technology in Munich. Professor Heßler's research focuses on the historical relationship between humans and machines, particularly examining concepts of error, faultiness, and superiority. Her current projects investigate the "Age of Digital Errors," exploring how societies have learned to cope with technological failures that are often invisible yet potentially catastrophic. She also researches the "faulty human" concept, analyzing how humans have been historically positioned as inferior compared to machines since the 19th century. Her work on technological emotions examines how emotions and technology co-construct each other throughout history, establishing what she terms a "Historical Techno-Anthropology" that recognizes the historical variability of human-technology relations. Her extensive publication record reveals a consistent scholarly trajectory examining the complex interplay between humans and technology. Recent works demonstrate increasing focus on the philosophical and anthropological dimensions of technology, particularly regarding error, failure, and the redefinition of human identity in technological contexts. She has developed frameworks for understanding digital errors as historical phenomena and has pioneered approaches to studying the emotional dimensions of human-technology interaction. TEFE-Fellowship, Remarque Institute, New York University (September-December 2024) Elisabeth-List-Fellowship, Universität Graz (Summer Semester 2023) Professor Heßler leads the DFG-funded graduate college "Kritische Infrastrukturen. Konstruktionskrisen, Funktionskrisen und Schutz von Städten" and serves as Principal Investigator for multiple projects including "Kulturen des Nichtfunktionierens" (Cultures of Non-Functioning) examining the history of digital factories. She has secured substantial funding for research on industrial cities, digitalization of workplaces, and the history of visualization. Her department hosts researchers working on the history of technological errors, the "faulty human" concept, and historical technological anthropology, with collaborations spanning German and international institutions.
