Professor Ursula Reutner

‘The internet changes cultures - but in what ways? This question fascinates me, and it can only be answered properly by academic disciplines working together. On the internet, cultural contact has become simpler than ever before. I can communicate with people from all over the world and gain knowledge of foreign cultures with very little effort. I can even experience foreign cultures directly in the virtual space. As a reaction to this development, cultural idiosyncrasies can either become more pronounced – or less pronounced, as they assimilate each other. Both is possible, and both is in fact happening. What is exciting from my point of view is which of these two developments are dominant, and where will digitalisation lead us culturally - towards a unified culture, or towards more diversity?'