معرفی
Helena Kieß is a researcher and doctoral candidate at the Centre for Anthropological Research on Museums and Heritage (CARMAH), Humboldt University of Berlin, where she has been employed since October 2020. She serves as a key ethnographic researcher in the VolkswagenStiftung-funded international project CHAPTER (Challenging Populist Truth-Making in Europe), collaborating across Berlin (Humboldt University), Krakow (Jagiellonian University), and London (University College London) institutions.
Her academic background includes:
- MSc in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology (University of Oxford)
- BA in Cultural Anthropology and Islamic Studies (Heidelberg University, American University of Beirut, Goethe University Frankfurt)
Kieß specializes in the intersection of digital innovation and museum practices within politically charged environments. Her ethnographic work examines how populist truth-making impacts European heritage spaces, with particular focus on young visitor engagement through digital media. She investigates affective contact zones in museums, truth-making practices, and the potential of co-designed applications to counter misinformation. Her methodological approach integrates anthropological lenses on business, art, and digital culture to develop critical frameworks for museum practitioners.
Within the CHAPTER project, Kieß leads ethnographic components including museum app evaluation, visitor experience analysis, and post-implementation impact assessment in partnership with Fluxguide (Vienna). The project aims to produce both practical tools for museums and theoretical contributions to post-truth discourse. Her doctoral thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. Christoph Bareither and Prof. Dr. Sharon Macdonald, synthesizes these research strands to advance understanding of digital engagement strategies in contested heritage contexts.
