CHRISTINA STRAUB
Cultural Scientist (University Degree)

Christina was born in the mid-seventies in the (at that time still somewhat productive) Ruhr Area. While visiting secondary-school she discovered her love and talent for foreign languages like English, Latin and French. Equipped with her university entrance qualification and advanced Latin proficiency exam, she decided to do an apprenticeship as Certified Technical Assistent for Design at Friedrich Albert Lange College School, Duisburg from 1996 til 1998.

But the word “assistant“ within her job title sounded quite upgradable to her, and led to the decision to let this be followed by academic studies focused on marketing. Being accepted by the European-University-Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), she enrolled for International Business Studies (MBA). But this was not really satisfying for Christina, as most of the time handling statistics and numbers was taught, but not coping with “real“ market situations, with individuals acting irrational. So she decided to again change her direction and started to study Cultural Sciences – best decision ever.

Placements and a semester abroad led her to Reykjavik (Iceland) and Florence (Italy), returning to Berlin with a lot of experiences concerning foreign cultures, ways of and ideas about life (as well as comprehensive Italian language skills). 2003 marks the beginning of her cooperation with Smokin Shutdown, and she has been responsible for the translation of the magazine (German to English) ever since.
In order to finance her university education, she has been working for a Berlin photo agency since 2002, but also got involved more and more into Smokin Shutdown.

Her enthusiasm for hot rodding and its protagonists steadily grew, and Christina assumed a growing number of editorial and organizational tasks. She has been an essential part of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) FLYING PISTON since 2005. Together with Thom Piston she´s now managing all foreign correspondence, artist and customer support, edits articles for Smokin Shutdown magazine, helps to layout and develop concepts für hot rod shows like Bottrop, Weil am Rhein, and Rockin Hot Rod Decadence in Berlin.

By the end of 2008 she had finished her studies with a final thesis about identity in and of the subculture of hot rodding, based on interviews with members of the Road Devils Europe Car Club. She now is entitled to call herself Graduated Cultural Scientist. During her university career she´d also focused on themes of cultural history, reflected by works and papers about eras of change like the 20s or the witch craze in Europe, or fields relatively tabooed by society like the history of transplantation medicine, and simlar.

Besides her dedication to Flying Piston and Smokin Shutdown Christina will be working as Research Assistant at the Institute of Criminology of the University of Cambridge.

Her main concern always was with the individual and its widely ramified involvment with and within society. Why are people like they are? Why do they act as they do? Her personal as well as professional credo is best illustrated by quoting science-sociologist Max Weber, stating:

We want to draw the lesson that nothing is gained by yearning and tarrying alone, and we shall act differently. We shall set to work and meet the 'demands of the day', in human relations as well as in our vocation. This, however, is plain and simple, if each finds and obeys the demon who holds the fibers of his very life.