Media Cultures of Computer Simulation

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The Institute for Advanced Study of ¿Media cultures of computer simulation¿ (MECS) assumes that for half a century computer simulations (CS) changed the knowledge and practice of science and society fundamentally. These changes in both the structure of scientific knowledge and the way in which it is understood, however, have not always been accompanied by a critical approach within the humanities; in the sense of reflection upon the theoretical, substantive, historical and epistemological conditions of the possibilities afforded by simulation. In its work therefore, the Institute will not only make a fundamental contribution to the understanding of the epistemologic-technical upheaval of CS, but also establish a site for the exploration of CS as a new humanities research field.In the first phase, the Institute has proposed the idea of CS as a humanities research subject. As an inherently transdisciplinary and ¿ from the perspective of humanities ¿ largely unexplored field. CS poses challenges that allow new concepts, methods, forms of argumentation and gestures of thinking to take effect. With this, an epistemology of digital sciences can be developed to help inform the socio-political relevance of media and cultural studies.The Institute¿s applicants come from the fields of physics and computer science as well as the media studies and humanities. With the help of an interdisciplinary team of staff and an international fellow program, case studies for comparative research and systematization of CS in different fields of knowledge and scientific domains were developed via the study of selected issues, range of events and initial publications.After the development of the field and the development of a network of researchers, the second funding phase is dedicated to comparison, consolidation and systematization of the Institute¿s findings, as well as reconnection to other discussions in the humanities. The aim is to develop methodological and conceptual principles to develop a technically informed cultural theory of CS. The key concepts of ¿policies¿, ¿temporalities¿ and ¿materiality¿ support this aim. Our research will be situated at the cutting edge of developments within these key concepts and their interdependencies. Working with these concepts our work will develop a cultural theory of CS in a two-fold way, simultaneously problematizing the possible conditions of current media studies and cultural theory on the subject of CS. The aim of MECS is therefore to continue the development of the topic within the humanities research community as part of a wider reflection on the basis of cultural theory.