Actor & Avatar

Dieter Mersch (Prof. Dr. em.), born in 1951, studied mathematics and philosophy in Cologne, Bochum and Darmstadt. Between 2004-2013 he was a full professor of media theory and between 2013-2021 director of the Institute for Critical Theory at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. Since 2018 he is also one of the presidents of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ästhetik.
Anton Rey, born in 1959, is a professor at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. After studying theater studies, literature and philosophy in Zurich and Berlin, he worked at the Schaubühne Berlin, Odéon Paris, Vienna Burgtheater, Munich Kammerspiele, among others with Peter Stein, Luc Bondy, Robert Wilson, Heiner Müller, Peter Zadek, Wim Wenders. Since 2002 he has been a lecturer, dramaturge, and researcher at the Department of Performing Arts and Film and since 2007 director of the Institute for the Performing Arts and Film (IPF) in Zurich.
Thomas Grunwald (Prof. Dr. em.), born in 1951, worked between 1992-2002 as Senior Neurologist at the Dept. of Epileptology, Bonn University Medical Center and was Medical Director at Swiss Epilepsy Clinic, Zurich between 2002 and 2021. Today he is a member of Zurich Epilepsy Institute, Zurich.
Jörg Sternagel has worked as a scholar focusing on philosophy with an emphasis on phenomenology, European cultural history and art, media and film philosophy in international arts, design and media programmes in Germany and Switzerland since 2005. He has obtained the Habilitation in philosophy and the Humanities at Universität Konstanz in 2019.
Lorena Kegel is a neuroscientist and psychologist by training passionate about healthcare and its digital future. In her past, she gained three years of experience as a PhD student in an interdisciplinary project group studying the brain during social interactions with avatars with functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Miriam Laura Loertscher (Dr. phil.) is the head of the research focus film at the Institute of the Performing Arts and Film at