Contemporary History of the Information Society

The projects analyse the changes of society because of the process of computerisation and the use of information technology.

Forschung

Projekte

Computers during the Cold War. The Computerisation of the Bundeswehr and the NVA up to Reunification

 Janine Funke

Associated PhD project

This PhD project addresses leadership systems underpinned with computers in the Bundeswehr and the National People’s Army (NVA) in the context of the formation and establishment of both armies within the alliance system of NATO and of the Warsaw Pact.

Cover of the journal "Zeithistorische Forschungen" (1/2020) with an essay by Michael Homburg on computer dating: The beginnings of electronic dating in the USA and Western Europe.

Computers in Love. A Cultural History of Dating and Mating in the Digital Age

 Michael Homberg

Research project (Postdoc)
Supported by Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Feodor-Lynen-Rückkehrstipendium

Long before Tinder & Co., marriage institutes and dating agencies in Europe, Asia and the USA began using computers to conquer the markets of the "lonely hearts". This research project examines the long and chequered history of electronic matchmaking since the 1950s

Data Work. The Development of the IT Service Industry in Germany, 1950s-1990s.

 Michael Homberg

Research project (own position, DFG)
Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

The project investigates the development of the IT service industry in Germany between the 1950s and the 1990s by analyzing the systems, actors and modes of knowledge circulation in the dawning digital age.

Graphic: ZZF

Digital Inequalities. Divides, Hierarchies, and Boundaries in Germany, 1970s to 1990s.

 Michael Homberg

Collaborative project (ZZF Potsdam, GEI, HS Bund)
Projekt leader: Michael Homberg
Starting Date: July 2023
Supported by the Leibniz-Association, Funding Line „Cooperative Excellence“ (2023)

This project takes up the German case in its transnational contexts to raise the question how and why such divides, hierarchies and boundaries occurred. By analyzing how computers and digital media since the 1970s developed, it trains a spotlight on the inequality, marginalization and biases woven into our technological systems.

Contemporary History of the Information Society

The projects analyse the changes of society because of the process of computerisation and the use of information technology.

Forschung

Projekte

Computers during the Cold War. The Computerisation of the Bundeswehr and the NVA up to Reunification

 Janine Funke

Associated PhD project

This PhD project addresses leadership systems underpinned with computers in the Bundeswehr and the National People’s Army (NVA) in the context of the formation and establishment of both armies within the alliance system of NATO and of the Warsaw Pact.

Cover of the journal "Zeithistorische Forschungen" (1/2020) with an essay by Michael Homburg on computer dating: The beginnings of electronic dating in the USA and Western Europe.

Computers in Love. A Cultural History of Dating and Mating in the Digital Age

 Michael Homberg

Research project (Postdoc)
Supported by Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Feodor-Lynen-Rückkehrstipendium

Long before Tinder & Co., marriage institutes and dating agencies in Europe, Asia and the USA began using computers to conquer the markets of the "lonely hearts". This research project examines the long and chequered history of electronic matchmaking since the 1950s

Data Work. The Development of the IT Service Industry in Germany, 1950s-1990s.

 Michael Homberg

Research project (own position, DFG)
Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

The project investigates the development of the IT service industry in Germany between the 1950s and the 1990s by analyzing the systems, actors and modes of knowledge circulation in the dawning digital age.

Graphic: ZZF

Digital Inequalities. Divides, Hierarchies, and Boundaries in Germany, 1970s to 1990s.

 Michael Homberg

Collaborative project (ZZF Potsdam, GEI, HS Bund)
Projekt leader: Michael Homberg
Starting Date: July 2023
Supported by the Leibniz-Association, Funding Line „Cooperative Excellence“ (2023)

This project takes up the German case in its transnational contexts to raise the question how and why such divides, hierarchies and boundaries occurred. By analyzing how computers and digital media since the 1970s developed, it trains a spotlight on the inequality, marginalization and biases woven into our technological systems.