Prof. Dr. Andreas Georg Stascheit

Biography

Trained in the social sciences and the humanities, in music (violin performance and recording arts) and in information technology, Andreas' work crosses the perspectives of theory, technology and musical arts.

A professor of media studies, aesthetics and communication since 1994, he is currently associate senior fellow in the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities – KWI - and member of the faculty at Institute of Music and Musicology, Dortmund University of Technology. Andreas also works in the field of applied science. At Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts he is head of Emile Berliner Institute, a research facility for music and media technology, and member of the faculty at Department of Social Sciences.

Research activities include studies in history and philosophy of science, philosophy and sociology of music, social anthropology and Science and Technology Studies. In applied research, he specializes in Human Factors Engineering, information systems architecture and audiovisual data communication.

Andreas received his education in the social sciences and humanities in Munster, Bielefeld, Recife and Rio de Janeiro, trained as a musician (violin performance) in Munster, Salzburg, and Cologne and as a music-therapist in Munich. He conducted fieldwork on the anthropology of indigenous medicine in north-eastern Brazil (Pernambuco, DAAD scholarship, 1981-82) and on music therapy in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (1987-88). Having received his Ph.D. in sociology (summa cum laude) from Bielefeld University (1989), he was postdoctoral research fellow of the DFG Graduate School “Phenomenology and Hermeneutics” at Institute of Philosophy, Ruhr-University Bochum.

Brazil was and still remains key with regard to Andreas’ approach towards music. Having graduated from "Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Westfalen-Lippe" [Westphalia State University of Music] in 1986, he was a member of Robert Schumann Chamber Orchestra under Jurgen Kussmaul and went on to focus on duo repertoire (violin/piano, violin/organ), on contemporary music (live electronic) and on traditions of musical practice that do not rely on a writing system.

It also happened during his stay in Brazil 1981 – at Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Analysis (IBASE) in Rio de Janeiro - that he first came in touch with the use of computer software in social science research. This eventually resulted 1990-92 in working on database applications dedicated to specific requirements of research in the humanities (connected with PHILIS, the "Forschungsabteilung für philosophische Information und Dokumentation" - Research Department for Philosophical Information and Documentation - at Dusseldorf University), and in developing business software components (1993-94). 1995 he started working in the field of distributed computing and inter-process communication, leading the development of a DirectX based solution for interactive 3D visualization working over the Internet. An implementation of the rendering engine (written in C++) as ActiveX control won the second prize in the Microsoft/Ziff-Davis “ActiveX” software contest in 1997.

As of 2011, Andreas has 17 years of teaching experience at undergraduate and graduate level, courses taught include communication theory, project management, media studies, sociology of music and theory of music therapy. In musical arts, he gives classes in violin, chamber music and African-American music. 1996 he has received an excellence in teaching award.

Research

I. Heuristic methods and strategies.

From the point of view of philosophy, he has analyzed ‘embodied heuristics’ (as implied in artistic practice) in the context of the ‘I can’ (Edmund Husserl).

Heuristics as a topic for historical research in philosophy of science has been addressed, with reference to the problem of abstraction in social and economic theory, in these recent papers, discussing the concepts of "model" vs. "ideal type":

Crisis and Method: Edmund Husserl in Economic Thought. International Network for Economic Method, IX Conference, Helsinki, September 1-3, 2011. | The Problem of Abstraction in Economic Theory. Force of Things. Things, Gegenstände, and Objects in Phenomenology. International Conference of the German Society for Phenomenological Research. Berlin, Humboldt University, September 28th – October 1st, 2011.

II. Technology and Theory

Some cross-disciplinary case studies have been dedicated to the analysis of the performative function of aisthesis, as technologically mediated experience, in research and theory.

With reference to media including related tools and practices, Andreas has published on Béla Bartók's pioneering studies in ethnomusicology. Bartók's work provides an excellent example of how sound recording inventions may produce significant impact within history of science.

The work of philosopher and social scientist Alfred Schutz gives another example of how theory may incorporate aspects that stem from the technological formation of experience, in this case, from musical experience as related with the technical construction of musical instruments. In several studies Andreas has analyzed the founding relevance, techniques of piano performance and counterpoint as an organizing principle in musical composition display in Alfred Schutz’ phenomenology of the social world.

Currently he edits and translates Alfred Schutz’ writings on the phenomenology of music for Alfred Schutz Werkausgabe (vol. VII) and works on a book on the relevance of the aesthetic in history of social thought.

III. Musicology and Philosophy of Music

Studies on historical and theoretical aspects of music and aurality, on interrelations of auditory experience and movement, and on the role rhythm plays in sensorimotor integration include anthropological field work in different realms of musical practice, experimental work and theoretical analysis (on Aristoxenos of Tarent, Carl Stumpf, Erwin Straus, Merleau Ponty).

Current papers: Music as formal architecture and lived experience. OPO IV World Conference on Phenomenology: Reason and Life. The Responsibility of Philosophy. Segovia, Spain, 19 – 23 September 2011. | Carl Stumpf on auditory attentiveness and analysis and Edmund Husserl’s comments. 2nd Conference of the Carl Stumpf Society. Dortmund University, September 23-26, 2011. | Phenomenological Philosophy within the Horizon of Music - On Emmanuel Nunes "Lecture Musicale de Husserl". Keynote Lecture. International Symposium: Time, Space, Intentionality – On Emmanuel Nunes’s 70th Anniversary. Lisbon, November 5-6, 2011.

IV. Systems theory applied:

Systems engineering and risk assessment methodologies both represent applications of the systems theory approach. Coming from history and sociology of science, Andreas has worked on methodological aspects of modeling, formal representation languages, risk analysis and standardization. In this context he has served in several committees of DIN, CEN and ISO:

• ISO Technical Committee 176 “Quality Management and Quality Assurance” (German delegate 2009)
• CEN Technical Committee 114 "Safety of machinery" (German delegate 2009)
• DIN permanent workgroup “General Principles and Terminology” in the “Safety Design Principles Standards Committee” [DIN NA 095 “Sicherheitstechnische Grundsätze”]
• DIN committee of ISO Workgroup “Risk management -- Principles and guidelines” (development of new standard ISO 31000)
• DIN committee of ISO Workgroup “Management systems - Guidelines for auditing management systems” (revision of ISO 19011)

He is a member of INCOSE (International Council on Systems Engineering), GRUR (German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property), DGRI (German Association of Law and Informatics) and VDI (Association of German Engineers).

Recent: Methods of Risk Analysis in Information Security Management Systems. German Association of Law and Informatics (DGRI), 2011 conference, Munich, November 10-12, 2011.

Applied research

With 20 years experience in audiovisual media technology and industry-standard information technology, Andreas today is a specialist in IT-based research methodologies that allow for exploiting the representational power of audiovisual recordings. 1998-2003 he served as coordinator of the university research group “Multimedia Applications and Systems”. Familiar with M&E industry specific processes, including hands-on experience covering the media production lifecycle, Andreas is a member of Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and EBU-AMWA's “Framework for Interoperable Media Services” (FIMS) workgroup.

Andreas’ R&D activities focus on technologies for transmission, storage and automated processing of audiovisual data on basis of industry-standard IT approaches (like SOA) and frameworks originally developed in high-performance computing, particularly Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) interconnect architectures (like InfiniBand and RoCE - RDMA over Converged Ethernet). He is a member of the Open Fabrics Alliance, serves as VP Standardization and Interoperability for "deutsche wolke", the open-source initiative for the development of a federal cloud-infrastructure in Germany, and is connected to the "Open Source Business Alliance" (OSBA) and the community led by RisingTide Systems (RTS), developer of the Linux Unified Target (LIO) software stack.

Papers and Conferences 2010, 2009

The Problem of the "I can": On Methodology of Creative Practice.
Orpheus Institute for Advanced Studies and Research in Music Sound and Score, Gent, Belgium. December 15-16, 2010.

Expression and Kinaesthetic Consciousness: On Philosophy of Performance. American Society for Aesthetics : Conference 2010. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. October 27-30, 2010.

Risikomanagement und Faktor Mensch. [Risk Management and the Human Factor]. Congress of the Association for Occupational Health and Safety. Leipzig, Germany. October 19-21, 2010.

The "I can" as Theme of Action: Phenomenology and Methodology of Creative Practice. Second International Conference on Phenomenological Pedagogy. School of Educational Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China. October 14-16, 2010.

Heuristics of Embodiment. International Sociological Association : XVII World Congress of Sociology. Gothenburg, Sweden. July 11-17, 2010.

Crisis and Method: Edmund Husserl in Economic Thought. The International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science : 8th International Congress, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. June 24-27, 2010.

On Phenomenology of Music – Music as Aesthetic Form and Lived Experience. 2nd ICNAP Conference, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. May 27-29, 2010.

On Kinaesthetic Consciousness: Embodiment and Subjectivity. Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness, American Anthropological Association. UC Berkeley, CA, US. March 17-21, 2010.

Risikoanalyse und IT-Sicherheitskonzept [Risk Analysis and Information Security]. German Association of Law and Informatics and Assocation of German Lawyers (DAV IT). CeBIT 2010, Convention Center, Hannover, Germany. March 03, 2010.

Könnenshorizonte als Gewissheitshorizonte: Sehen und Hören als Rechtsfrage. Conference Die Vernunft der Bilder. Museum "Situation Kunst", Bochum, Germany. February 11-12, 2010.

2009:

''Crisis and Method. Edmund Husserl's Logical Investigations in History of Economic Thought''. History of Science Society : 2009 Conference. Phoenix, AR. November 19-22, 2009.

Intonation, Tuning and Attuning. Auditory Perception, Cognition, and Action (APCAM) Meeting 2009, Boston, MA. November 19, 2009.

Phenomenology and Methodology of Creative Practice.
Longy School of Music, Composition Seminar, Cambridge, MA. November 6, 2009.

Music in the Making: Laboratory Studies in the Context of Musical Arts. The Society for Social Studies of Science Conference 2009. Washington DC, Oct 28 - Nov 1, 2009.

Simultaneity and Expressivity – Music and the Phenomenological Approach to Social Science. Phenomenology for East Asia Circle, 3rd Conference: “Applied Phenomenology”. Seoul National University, Institute of Philosophy. Seoul, South Korea. September 18-21, 2009.

Performance and Aesthetic Dimensions of Social Action in Alfred Schutz. European Sociological Association, IX Conference. ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute, Lisbon, Portugal. September 02-05, 2009.

Music and Technology in Context of Cultural Diversity. International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences : 16th IUAES World Congress “Humanity, Development and Cultural Diversity”. Yunnan University, Kunming, China. July 27 - 31, 2009.

Music and History of Social Thought. International Conference Sociology of Music – Tendencies, Issues, Perspectives. New University of Lisbon, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences. Lisbon, Portugal. July 23-26, 2009.

''The Problem of Abstraction. Husserl's Logical Investigations in History of Economic Thought''.
History of Economics Society : 36th Annual Conference. University of Colorado Denver, Department of Economics. Denver, CO, USA. June 26-29, 2009.

Auditory Violence – an Aesthesiological Perspective.
Institute for the Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria. June 18-20, 2009.

Aisthesis, Intersubjectivity, and the Problem of the "I can". International Conference on Phenomenology, Social Sciences and the Arts. University of Konstanz, Department of History and Sociology. Konstanz, Germany. May, 14-16, 2009.

Hören, Hörbarkeit und Klang als Schauplatz der Technikgeschichte [Listening, Audibility and Sound as Arena of History of Technology]''. Lecture Series Philosophy of the Humanities and Social Sciences: University of Zuerich, Institute of Philosophy. Zuerich, Switzerland. March 5, 2009.