born in 1957 in Eggenfelden, is Professor of German Literature and Cultural Studies/Media at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Permanent Visiting Professor at Princeton. After studying German literature, philosophy, and history, he earned his PhD in modern German literature from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich in 1990 and his post-doctorate in 2001. From 1998-2006 he was Professor of the Theory and History of Artificial Worlds at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.