A.S. Richterich
I am an associate professor in Digital Cultures at the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. My research explores social practices emerging in interaction with digital technology. I studied sociology at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and media economics at the University of Siegen (Germany), where I also completed my PhD in digital media studies in 2012. With an educational background in sociology, media studies and economics, I am passionate about empirically engaged and interdisciplinary research. My work has been published in international, refereed journals such as Information, Communication & Society, Health Sociology, and Learning, Media, & Technology.
From 2019-2021, I was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at the University of Sussex, supervised by Professor Tim Jordan (now UCL). Based at the Sussex Humanities Lab, I conducted qualitative, notably ethnographic research on experiential learning, digital innovation, and tech-political practices in hacker and maker communities. My research highlights the opportunities associated with hacker- and makerspaces (HMS), especially by showing how communally embedded ‘learning-by-making’ can facilitate digital expertise and DIY creativity. At the same time, I examine factors of in- and exclusion in HMS, highlighting for example who is likely to benefit from the learning opportunities potentially afforded by different types of communities. Building on my research in HMS – notably inspired by debates on communities’ common lack of diversity, I am now conducting research on spaces/settings that minoritised groups have found(ed) for their engagement with digital technology. Parts of this research are presented in my papers on women-only groups for developers and feminist hackerspaces.
You can find a list of my publications here.
Career history
- Since 01/2023: Associate Professor (UHD) in Digital Cultures, Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Literature & Art
- Since 10/2021: Assistant Professor (UD1) in "Digital Cultures", Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Literature & Art
- 09/2019-8/2021: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow, University of Sussex, UK, Sussex Humanities Lab and School of Media, Arts, & Humanities
- 07/2015-08/2019: Assistant Professor (UD2) in "Digital Cultures", Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Literature & Art
- 09/2013-06/2015: Lecturer for "Writing & Media", Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Literature & Art
- 04/2013−08/2013: Postdoctoral fellow at the DFG-Research Group “Locating Media”, University of Siegen, Germany
- 03/2013−05/2013: Scholarship holder at the Equal Opportunities Office, University of Siegen
- 11/2012−02/2013: Academic coordinator and lecturer at the Centre for Media and Social Research, Media Department, University of Siegen
- 02/2009−11/2012: PhD student and scholarship holder at the graduate school “Locating Media/Situierte Medien” at the University of Siegen, supervised by Professor Dr. Jörg Döring
- 06/2011−10/2012: Freelance assistant at Dr. Josef Raabe publishing house, Berlin
- 10/2011−07/2012: Research assistant for the project “Cultural Geography of the media upheaval analogue/digital”, University of Siegen
- 03/2009−02/2010: Research assistant for the chair of New German Philology, Media- and Cultural Studies, University of Siegen
- 11/2008−01/2009: Research assistant for the project “Media-Narration and Media-Games”, University of Siegen