Magnus Rust, M.A.

Magnus Rust is an assistant at the Seminar of Media Studies at the University of Basel. He researches the interplay of computer development and technology critique since the 1950s in the USA and Germany. Sporadic protagonist of this historical research is the German-American computer science and AI pioneer Joseph Weizenbaum. The work reconstructs the thought collectives in which Weizenbaum operated, from the first decade of automation in the USA post bellum to the home computer in the FRG of the 1980s. The constant guiding question: How is the relationship between man and computer, between the individual and the „Megamachine“ (Lewis Mumford) conceived?

On the one hand, the time at the Weizenbaum Institute will be used for focused archival research to retrieve (forgotten) materials on Weizenbaum. In addition, an event is planned that will ask about the relevance of Weizenbaum’s thinking in the anniversary year W\100.