معرفی
Mathias Denecke is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Media Studies at Ruhr University Bochum since March 2022 and an associated member of the Collaborative Research Center 'Virtual Lifeworlds' since February 2024. His academic trajectory includes doctoral research at Leuphana University Lüneburg's Centre for Digital Cultures (2014-2018) and prior work as a Research Associate on media streaming cultures at the University of Hamburg (2018-2022).
His educational background features a completed doctorate in 2021 with the project 'Electricity metaphors in digital cultures,' an MA in Literature, Art and Media Studies from the University of Konstanz (2011-2014), and a BA in the same field with a minor in Political Science (2008-2011), including an Erasmus semester in Vilnius.
Denecke's research centers on the intersection of digital cultures and material infrastructures, with particular focus on metaphors in theory formation, logistical systems, digitally mediated work, and age-appropriate assistance technologies. His work critically examines how conceptual frameworks like 'flow' and 'circulation' shape our understanding of digital phenomena while investigating the hidden labor within platform economies and care infrastructures. He approaches these topics through media theory, cultural studies, and political economy perspectives, often employing historical and comparative methods.
His publications reveal a consistent trajectory exploring the metaphors that structure digital culture, evolving from early work on streaming and data flows to more recent investigations of logistical capitalism, care work in technical environments, and the material conditions of digital labor. Denecke frequently collaborates with other scholars while maintaining a distinctive focus on the epistemological dimensions of digital infrastructure and the social implications of emerging technologies.
Denecke teaches courses including 'Data Bodies. People in Computing Environments,' 'Digital Media and Health,' 'Care Work' (at MA level), and 'Artificial Intelligence and Human Work' (at BA level), reflecting his research interests in the relationship between humans and computational systems. His teaching appears to integrate theoretical frameworks with contemporary case studies from platform economies and assistive technologies.
As part of the Collaborative Research Center 'Virtual Lifeworlds,' Denecke contributes to interdisciplinary research examining the evolving relationship between digital technologies and human experience, particularly investigating how infrastructures shape everyday life and social relations in increasingly digitized environments.
