On 15 June 2026, Dr. Thomas Kater (University of Cologne) will deliver his Fellow Lecture on the topic “Zugang und Zirkulation. Gatekeeping im digitalen Wandel” (“Access and Circulation: Gatekeeping in Digital Change”). The lecture will take place from 4.15 pm to 6.30 pm in the Philosophikum (Domplatz 23, 48143 Münster), room 201.

Gatekeepers determine access to cultural assets and thereby regulate their circulation. What circulates remains alive and culturally relevant. In the context of the digital transformation, gatekeeping practices are changing; new gatekeepers have appeared and both new modes of access and new forms of circulation have developed, which in the case of literature are promoted, for example, by social media such as TikTok (#BookTok) and Instagram (#Bookstagram) or self-publishing platforms such as Wattpad.

In his lecture, Thomas Kater examines the relationship between access and circulation with regard to cultural goods. Using literature as an example, he examines the role of gatekeepers and mediating bodies in this context. Drawing on current controversies, such as those surrounding New Adult literature, he explores how the digital transformation influences gatekeeping practices and to what extent it thereby also alters access to cultural goods and their circulation.

Dr. Thomas Kater conducts research into literary theory and aesthetics, 18th-century German literature and contemporary literature. Having held positions at the Universities of Münster and Erlangen-Nuremberg, he is currently a research fellow at the Institute for German Language and Literature at the University of Cologne.