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Öznur Özdal

Öznur Özdal is a research assistant and PhD candidate in American Studies at Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, where she will be finishing her Master of Arts in Comparative Studies by September 2026. She is part of the interdisciplinary DFG research project titled “The Makeability of the Self. Diachronic Perspectives on Self-Forming Processes in Media” (DFG FOR 5826 “Machbarkeiten des Selbst. Mediale Selbstformungsprozesse in diachroner Perspektive"). Her research interests include algorithmic self-formation and identity, autofiction, posthumanist agency, critical infrastructure studies, gender studies, and the digital gothic.

From 10/2026PhD candidate DFG FOR 5826 "Machbarkeiten des Selbst. Mediale Selbstformungsprozesse in diachroner Perspektive"
Since 04/2026Research assistant in the American Studies department; tutor for “Introduction to American Literature”, HHU Düsseldorf
03/2025 – 03/2026Student assistant in the American Studies department, HHU Düsseldorf
Since 10/2023Master of Arts in Comparative Studies for English and American Language, Literature and Culture, HHU Düsseldorf
09/2023Bachelor of Arts – Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf
Major: English and American Studies
Minor: German Studies
Thesis: “Gender Stereotyping and Mental Illness in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar”
08/2012 – 09/2012Stirling University (Summer School RUB)
10/2010 – 02/2025Accounts Receivable Coordination (external)

Schober, Regina, and Öznur Özdal. "Beyond the Safety of the Black Box: AI Metaphors from Black Hole to Ripe Fruit." In New Metaphors for Artificial Intelligence, forthcoming.

06/2026HeiCAD (Heine Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science) Retreat 2026: Poster Presentation on upcoming PhD Project with the working title “Exploring Narrative Negotiations of the Algorithmic Self”
06/2026HeiCAD Retreat Masterclasses with Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Julian Nida-Rümelin (“Digitaler Humanismus – die Alternative zur Silicon Valley Ideologie“), Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Sybille Krämer („Jenseits der Mensch-Maschine Konkurrenz. Ein anderer Blick auf Künstliche Intelligenz“), Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gramelsberger („Ist Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) möglich?“), Prof. Dr. Roberto Simanowski („Die sozialen Kosten des technischen Fortschritts am Beispiel der Sprachmaschine“)
03/ 2026Excerpt from Beyond the Safety of the Black Box: AI Metaphors from Black Hole to Ripe Fruit for FRIAS Workshop titled “Anglophone Studies in the Age of Generative AI: Scholarship, Criticism, Teaching”
03/2026FRIAS Workshop titled “Anglophone Studies in the Age of Generative AI: Scholarship, Criticism, Teaching” (in Freiburg Institute for Advanced Sciences)
04/2025Vernissage “Ein unendlich dunkles Erbe: Die faschistischen Wurzeln der modernen Weltraumforschung” (HHU, UNIVERSEH and Bürgeruni; co-organization and contribution)
11/2024Workshop “Critical Outer Space Studies: Colonialism, Imperialism, Fascism – The Legacies and Futures of Modern Space Exploration” (in preparation for Vernissage “Ein unendlich dunkles Erbe: Die faschistischen Wurzeln der modernen Weltraumforschung in April 2025)
12/2024Interdisciplinary Workshop “Unpacking Black Boxes?” Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf (participant)
  • Introduction Cultural Studies: The Myths that Made America. HHU Düsseldorf. Summer Term 2026 (Blockseminar in September 2026)'
     
  • The Myths that Made America. HHU Düsseldorf. Summer term 2025 (co-organization with Prof. Schober and Maxine Broich)
  • DFG FOR 5826 "Machbarkeiten des Selbst. Mediale Selbstformungsprozesse in diachroner Perspektive"
  • German Association for American Studies (DGfA/GAAS)