Dr. Soenke Zehle
Transcultural Media Studies Project
Soenke Zehle holds a BA in English and Comparative Literary Studies and in Political Science from Occidental College, Los Angeles, as well as an MA in Comparative Literature, an MA in Pilosophy, Certificates in Latin American and Caribbean Area Studies as well as Translation (English<>German) from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he completed his doctoral dissertation in the Department of Comparative Literature (PhD-Program in Philosophy, Literature, and the Theory of Cricitism) in 2004.
His work and teaching is informed by approaches from media studies, political ecology, and postcolonialism. He has taught in the US (SUNY) and Germany (Saarland University, Academy of Fine Arts) on US multi-ethnic literatures and minority social movements, on a broad range of topics in transcultural literary and media studies as well as seminars in media theory and translation; areas of emphasis include anglophone African film and literature, network cultures, media and political ecology.
He is currently pursuing a post-doctoral research project on visual essayism. He also serves as co-coordinator of the university's GradUS Doctoral Program. In addition to teaching at Saarland University, he directs the Experimental Media Lab (XMLab) at the Academy of Fine Arts Saar.
For a complete list of publications, see the online bibliography compiled by the university library (-2005, 2006-).
Membership
- Working Group on Environment and Security (TES), IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)
Activities
2010
Publications
- Ryszard Kapuściński and the Borders of Documentarism: Toward Exposure without Assumption (in: International Perspectives on Literary Journalism, ed. John Bak)
- Homo Ludens Ludens (Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 69:1 2010)
- In preparation: special eco-media issue of fibreculture (co-edited with Ned Rossiter, Sean Cubitt, Andrew Murphie)
Presentations
- "Authority to Act: Cartographies of the Political in the Age of Algorithmic Culture". Internet comme metamedia : le grand défi.European Media Days (18-19 Nov 2010).
- "Freedom's just another Word... for Literary Realism: Jonathan Franzen Goes to China". Sites of the Aesthetic: International Versions of Literary Journalism. UniversitéParis-Est (07 Okt 2010).
- "Chasing Freedom in the Cloud". Opening the Vault: Cloud Culture and New Business Models. Culture Mondo / PICNIC '10. Amsterdam (24 Sept 2010).
- "What's Next in the Internet?" Eine internationale Konferenz zum Potential von Internet für den Kulturbereich. Luxemburg (30 Juni 2010)
- "Ryszard Kapuściński and the Borders of Documentarism: Toward Exposure without Assumption". "Begging Description: Literary Journalism, Othering and the Order of Things", UniversitéParis-Est (07 Mai 2010).
- "Governance of Digital Infrastructures". Colloque International Le Numérique Éditorial et sa Gouvernance: Entre Savoirs et Pouvoirs. Paris, Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (28-29 April 2010).
- "Network Ecologies: Geophilosophy between Conflict and Cartographies of Abundance". Young Researchers' Day der Universität der Grossregion zum Thema "Ethik in der Wissenschaft und Wissenschaftsphilosophie" (20 März 2010).
- "Homo Ludens Ludens: Digital Play Between Productivism and Profanation". Universität Hamburg (08 Jan 2010).
- "Frédéric Back: Eine Retrospektive". Filmhaus Saarbruecken (07 Jan 2010).
Research Activities Net.Culture & Visual Media
- Workshop: New Media Workers in Europe and Asia, Shanghai. In cooperation with the Institute of Comparative Cultural Studies (Ningbo, China) and the Asia-Europe Foundation (Singapore)
- Symposium: Network Ecologies, Saarbruecken (2-3 July 2010). In cooperation with the International Center for Information Ethics ( ICIE)
- Symposium: Welt am Draht (27-28 Oct 2010)
- Exhibition: Polish Animation: Presenting the Lodz Film School (25 Nov - 9 Dec 2010)
- Workshop: Social Media Network for Young African Filmmakers and Visual Artists. Yaoundé, Kamerun. In Kooperation mit dem Goethe Institut und der Plattform Crew United (29 Nov -2 Dec 2010)
- Workshop: Madiba- Dynamic Water Cartographies. SUD 2010. In cooperation mit Doual'Art und Ushahidi (3-6 Dec 2010)
- Film Festival: African Cinema Festival 2010 (26 Nov - 5 Dec 2010).
2009 Publications
- Freie Software, freies Afrika? (Telepolis 10 Feb 2009)
- Agamben, On Security and Terror (Translation, Data Browser 04/2009)
- Organizing Networks (with Ned Rossiter, Cultural Politics 5.2)
- Video-Interviews (Wintercamp 09)
- Ethics of Waste in the Information Society (Issue Editor, Oct 2009)
- Network Ecologies: From Conflict to Cartographies of Abundance (IRIE 11 2009)
- From Weak Ties to Organized Networks (w G. Coleman, G. Lovink, N. Rossiter)
- FLOSS Redux (Mute Anthology)
Presentations - Serious Games (Panel at GMF)
- Introduction to Film Studies (Teacher Training, LPM)
Research Activities Net.Culture & Visual Media
- FP7-Proposal on Games & Journalism (ICT 2009)
- Wintercamp (INC)
- Microscience
- Kapuscinski - Grenzgänge
- African Cinema Festival 2009
- Cinema: Philippinische Filmtage - PDF
- Cinema: Seaview - German Tour - PDF
- Joint Lecture/Seminar (HBK/DFKI) incl. Serious Games
2008 Publications
- Network Ecologies (Essay)
- Border Games (Essay)
- JFK-Show (Book/Album, Editor)
- Toward a Cosmopolitics of the Commons (Essay)
- Dispatches from the Depletion Zone (Essay)
- Kein Anschluss? Green IT ist noch nicht Fair IT (Essay)
Presentations
- Social Software and Collaborative Ethics
- Nach der Repräsentation - Elemente einer Ethik sozialer Konstitution
Research Activities Net.Culture & Visual Media
- African Cinema Festival 2008
- International Summer Academy (Academy of Fine Arts)
- Essayfilm (PDF)
- American Landscape - James Benning' (PDF)
- Short Films 'Mitternachtstalk' at the Max Ophüls Preis 2008 (Coordinator)
- Unfunk (Concept)
2007 Publications
- Southern Views on the Political Economy of Information
- The Case for Communication Rights
- The Refugee-Media Nexus
- Unsichtbare Kosten
Presentations
- Coloniality - Dictionary of War, Berlin
- Umweltgerechtigkeit - Fair IT
- When Human Rights Become a Serious Game
- Technologies of the Common (UNESCO)
- Passions for the Real (Anglistentag 2007)
Research Activities Net.Culture & Visual Media
- Amerikanische Avantgarde
- Helvetica - The Film
- The Making of Full Metal Village
- Dokumentaristische Strategien im Umgang mit kolonialer Erinnerung