Kathrin Friedrich

Kathrin Friedrich studied Media, Law, and Sociology at the Philipps-University Marburg where she received her M.A. in 2007. Her fields of interest are science (esp. medicine) and media, feminist media studies and popular culture. Currently she is working as an e-learning tutor and website administrator at the language centre of Marburg University.

My PhD project “From Analogue to Digital - Media Cultures in Contemporary Medicine” (working title) explores imaging techniques of medicine (examples are computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound) and the influence of the ‘digital revolution’ on the images, technological arrangements and visual cultures of this ‘medical media’.
In particular, changes in visual aesthetics, knowledge and evidence extraction as well as the body-media interrelationship will be identified. To highlight the varied interplay of apparatuses, technologies, visualizations and also scientific/popular discourses, it is essential to take part in clinical diagnostic processes/research facility to experience the settings of those imaging techniques. The theoretical background is established by three concepts, namely ‘image’, ‘dispositive’ and ‘viskurs’. Thereby, the exemplary questions will be handled: In which way do CT-images refer to analogue x-ray images to ‘guarantee’ legibility? Which status do they have as an argument in the generation, transformation, and distribution of medical knowledge? How is the moving human body constructed and controlled to be accessible for the medium? Are visualisation strategies in medicine aligned to, for example, filmic strategies by installing new media technologies?
By the three analytical concepts and the empirical research I try to show how the introduction of digital media technology influences the complex area of CT and ultrasonography.