Education and other activities
Education on international level
My studies brought me to three different countries: France, United Kingdom and Germany. I also crossed the borders of disciplines, travelling from humanities and social sciences to management, from ethnology to sociology.
I began my studies in Lyon (France) with two years’ preparatory classes in humanities and social sciences for the French “Grandes Ecoles”. I then graduated from the EAP – European School of Management (today called ESCP-Europe) in Paris, Oxford and Berlin with a Master in European Management in 1995.
In 1996, I completed a “Maîtrise d’ethnologie” (equivalent of a Master in Ethnology) in Strasbourg (France) and attended classes in ethnomuseology. During the years 1997-2000, I worked for a multinational company in Munich (Germany).
A PhD in Germany
In 2000, I settled in Karlsruhe (Germany) and started working in visitor research. At first, I was employed as a scientific assistant at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Karlsruhe (today: KIT) 2000-2002 while preparing at the same time my PhD thesis. My tutor, Prof. Hans Joachim Klein, introduced me to the theory, methods and practice of evaluation.
A grant from the federal state Baden-Württemberg enabled me to go on with my doctoral research. In the meantime, I also worked freelance on several projects of evaluation, visitor research, consulting and public relations for museums or institutions in the museum sector.
The PhD thesis I wrote on international and intercultural cooperation of museums in Europe was handed in in 2005 and the doctorate completed in February 2006.
The path to self-employment
Immediately after the PhD award, I took over the scientific direction of the ZEB – Centre for Evaluation and Visitor Research at the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe for two years.
Since 2008 I have been working freelance, putting my experience and knowledge of visitor research at the disposal of cultural institutions. My working languages are German, French and English.
The focus of my research lies on visitors to museums and cultural institutions, as well as on intercultural aspects in museums.
Training activity
Training other people is a wonderful opportunity to pass on my professional experience to interested students. I am a lecturer in the programme „museOn I weiterbildung & netzwerk” developed by the Albert-Ludwig-University in Freiburg (Germany), where I teach the online-module about evaluation.
Volunteer: ICOM and the Friends of the Cathedral
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is the largest network for museum professionals with worldwide reach. I have been actively involved in volunteer work for ICOM for many years now, thus contributing to strengthen the association and by its means to support the museums’ cause.
First, I was elected into the board of ICOM Germany (2009-2013) and was called to contribute to the development of ICOM’s Strategic Plan 2011-2013. In 2017, I was appointed into the standing committee which distributes internal financial support to all constituting committees of ICOM. I am also active in my international committee, ICOM CECA (Committee for Education and Cultural Action), where I serve in the board since 2016 and took over the full editorial task for our yearly journal ICOM Education in 2018. Furthermore, I was entrusted to chair the committee overseeing the elections to the ICOM executive board in 2016 and 2019.
Yet there is another association which is very important to me. Its aim is to promote and foster one of the most amazing buildings ever erected: the Strasbourg cathedral. Since joining the board of the Society of Friends of the Strasbourg Cathedral in 2018, I took up the challenging task of strengthening the German speaking footing of our society, developing the offers in German as well as drawing the attention of the inhabitants of the Upper Rhine Valley onto the Strasbourg cathedral.
Go on with selected evaluation projects
Go on with the bibliography