Dr. Vanessa Ossa is the conference manager at Cologne Game Lab. Her current research interests include participatory culture, comic book fandom, and fictional characters in (digital) fan communities. She is a member of the German Society for Comic Studies (ComFor) and currently serves as editorial staff for their website and as part of the executive board.
Education and Professional Experience
Following an education as a film, photography, and multimedia professional, she worked for several film and television productions in Germany. Turning from practice to theory, Vanessa studied Sociology and Economics of Media Culture at the University of Cologne, as well as Germanic Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis.
In 2019, she finished her doctoral thesis “Sleeping Threats: The Sleeper Agent in Post-9/11 Media” at the Collective Research Center “Threatened Order – Societies under Stress” in Tübingen. Her thesis discusses the representation of sleeper agents as enemies in the ‘War on Terror’ and argues for their relevance in narratives of Hollywood cinema, US television series and mainstream comic books.
From 2020 to 2021 she worked at the University of Cologne as adjunct teacher and conference manager for the 11th Clash of Realities.
From 2020-2022 she also worked as lecturer for media studies at Amsterdam University.
Teaching
Media and Game Studies
Research Priorities
Participatory Culture
Comic Book Fandom
Fictional Characters in (Digital) Fan Communities
Current Research Projects
ISEDA (Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse)
The project aims to produce, test, evaluate, and upscale innovative solutions against domestic violence and abuse in Europe. Find out more here.
Publications
Monographies
The Sleeper Agent in Post-9/11 Media. London: Palgrave Macmillan (Forthcoming, 2022).
Edited Volumes
Playful Participatory Practices. Theoretical and Methodological Reflections, together with Pablo Abend und Benjamin Beil, Wiesbaden: Springer 2020.
Threat Communication and the US Order After 9/11: Medial Reflections, together with David Scheu and Lukas R.A.Wilde, London/New York: Routledge 2020.
Themed Section: “Comics/Fandom: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Intersection of Fan Studies and Comics Studies” together with Sophie Einwächter, Véronique Sina and Sven Stollfuß. In Participations. Journal of Audience & Reception Studies 2020.
Comics & Agency: Actors, Publics, Participation, together with Jan-Noël Thon and Lukas R.A. Wilde, de Gruyter 2022.
Paper
„Metalepsen in der Partizipationskultur: Das Spiel mit den Grenzen der storyworld im Fandiskurs zum Marvel Cinematic Universe“. In: Johannes C. P. Schmid, Andreas Veits und Wiebke Vorrath (ed.): Praktiken medialer Transformationen Übersetzungen in und aus dem digitalen Raum. Bielefeld: transcript 2018,151–172.
„The Sleeper Agent as Ambivalent Figure in Post-9/11 Threat Communication“. In: Vanessa Ossa, David Scheu and Lukas R.A. Wilde (ed.): Threat Communication and the US Order After 9/11: Medial Reflections. London/New York: Routledge 2020, 54-79.
“On the Intersection of Fan Studies and Comics Studies: Contextualization and Introduction”, together witht Sophie G. Einwächter, Véronique Sina and Sven Stollfuß. Participations. Journal of Audience & Reception Studies 17 no. 2 (Nov.) 2020, 148-60.
“9/11 als Narrativ und Bild – vom Sagbaren zum Unsichtbaren“. In: Carolin Führer and Antonius Weixler (Hrsg.): Umbruch – Bild – Erinnerung. Relationen einer globalen zeithistorischen Narration. Berlin: de Gruyter 2020, 215-230.
„Montieren“, together with Melanie Mika and Kiron Patka. In: Heiko Christians, Matthias Bickenbach and Nikolaus Wegmann (ed.): Historisches Wörterbuch des Mediengebrauchs III. Köln, Weimar, Wien: Böhlau-Verlag 2022.