Biography
Katharina Pfennigstorf studied special needs education (FH Magdeburg, Germany) and holds additional qualifications in systemic counselling and coaching. She worked in homes for people with disabilities (ÖHTB, Auftakt) as well as in the integration of young people and adults with chronic diseases or disabilities into the primary labour market (wienwork) for several years. At the same time she was part of the coaching training team at Systworks.
She started working for the IKM's university programme in Cultural Management in 2007 and soon discovered that her various experiences all had one thing in common: It is always about creating an environment that allows all parties involved to have positive learning and teaching experiences and to develop in the best possible way - according to their own aspirations, of course.
Starting out as the coordinator of the Cultural Management programme, she has been in charge of the overall management of the course since 2011. In 2018 she was also appointed deputy director of the Department.
During a sabbatical in Vancouver (2012/13) she worked for the Push Festival, the Talking Stick Festival, and VISI-Vancouver International Song Institute (University of British Columbia), among others, and thus gained a good insight into the structures of the Canadian cultural sector.
What she particularly appreciates about working for the cultural management course is the fact that it allows her to get to know and accompany many different people. She especially values the long history of the course and is happy about the many alumni she meets everywhere in the arts scene - and beyond. She is particularly committed to the heterogeneity of the course with regard to art disciplines, students and teachers, and to integrating the expert knowledge of the participants into the teaching at eye level.
In addition to her work at the IKM, she is also an active part of the mdw's personnel development (PE) and representative for the disabled. Within the framework of the PE she was involved in the introduction of the mentoring programme as well as in the (further) development of the onboarding programmes for new employees in administration and teaching.
As a representative for disabled persons, she is responsible for the interests of students with disabilities. In cooperation with the colleagues of the Senate Working Group "Barrier-free" and the Central IT Service, the mdw's main website has been successfully made more accessible and the relevant knowledge has been disseminated throughout the university. The current focus is the compilation of alternative examination methods to be used for admission examinations as well as in the regular course of study. This is done in close coordination with the implementation of measures from the Diversity Strategy, which was developed at mdw in the past years.
© lisalux
Dipl.-Heil.Päd.in (FH) Katharina Pfennigstorf
Head of the IKM's Cultural Management Programme