Anke te Heesen is professor of the history of science at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Her research has focused on the history of collections, scientists’ notation systems, art and science, and the history of the humanities.
Most generally, she is interested in different knowledge objects and their histories. Her books analyze eighteenth-century picture encyclopedias (Wallstein, 1997/University of Chicago Press, 2002), the modern newspaper clipping (Fischer, 2006/Manchester University Press, 2014), and the museum object (Junius, 2012). In 2008, she was awarded the Aby Warburg Prize for her research. She is currently working on the history of the interview and has recently published on Thomas Kuhn and the “Sources for History of Quantum Physics” (1961–64), one of the very first empirically oriented projects in the history of science.
Interested in the history of practices and materials in the sciences and humanities as part of a larger history of knowledge, Anke te Heesen combines theoretical reflection with practical involvement such as exhibitions or interview projects. At present, she is working on a collaborative project that historicizes the “applied humanities,” addressing the techniques that led to the emergence and reorientation of new disciplines in the modern period.
Anke te Heesen has taught and curated in many places, among them the Hygiene Museum in Dresden and, as a founding director, the Museum Universität Tübingen. For several years, she was a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.
Anke te Heesen is currently one of the IMPRS-KIR’s three Speakers.
Find out more about Anke te Heesen on the HU website.
