Rebecca Ann Wanzo (born 1975) is an American academic specializing in

African-American literature African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. Phillis Wheatley was an enslaved African woman who became the first African American to publish a book of poetry, which was publis ...

and

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic field focused on the relationships between Social constructionism, social conceptions of Race and ethnicity in the United States census, race and ethnicity, Law in the United States, social and political ...

fan studies Fan studies is an academic discipline that analyses fans, fandoms, fan cultures and fan activities, including fanworks. It is an interdisciplinary field located at the intersection of the humanities and social sciences, which emerged in the early ...

, and

feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or Philosophy, philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's Gender role, social roles, experiences, intere ...

. She is a professor and chair of the women, gender, and sexuality studies department at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. Wanzo's 2020 book, ''The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging'', won the Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work.

Early life and education

Wanzo was born 1975 in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. She is the daughter of Margaret Wanzo. She attended Lincoln Elementary and Stivers Middle schools. Wanzo is also a part of

Muse Machine Muse Machine is an American arts education organization based in Dayton, Ohio, serving 77,000 students and 600 teachers across 13 different southwestern Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern regio ...

Dayton Art Institute The Dayton Art Institute (DAI) is a museum of fine arts in Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio, United States. The Dayton Art Institute has been rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for children. The museum also ranks in the top 3% ...

, and Dayton Playhouse. She graduated from Colonel White High School in 1993. Wanzo majored in English, History, Black World Studies, and American studies at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

where she graduated, ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', in May 1997. Her senior honors thesis advisor was Andrew Cayton who described Wanzo as, "...one of the three or four best students I've seen in 17 years of teaching." Wanzo was one of 95 students nationwide to win a

Mellon Fellowship The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as the Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger ...

in humanistic studies. Wanzo completed a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in English with certificates in women's studies and African and African American studies at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 2003. Her dissertation was titled ''The reading cure and other sentimental interventions: reading contemporary sentimentality through African American women's narratives''. Her doctoral advisor was Wahneema H. Lubiano.

Career

Wanzo joined

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 2003 as an assistant professor in the departments of women's studies and African American and African studies. She was promoted to associate professor in the departments of women's studies and English in 2009. In the Fall of 2010, Wanzo joined

Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis is home to the College of Arts and Sciences and corresponding graduate programs across its many departments. The current Dean of the Faculty is Feng Sheng Hu, the Lucille P. Markey Distingui ...

as a visiting professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies. She was promoted to associate professor in July 2011 and full professor and chair of women, gender, and sexuality studies in July 2020. Her 2020 book, ''The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging'' won the

Katherine Singer Kovács Katherine Singer Kovács (July 26, 1946–May 12,1989) was an American film studies academicGottesman, Ron. ''Homage to Kitty Singer Kovacs.'' Cinema Journal 30, no. 3 (1991): 3–5. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1224926. remembered for two long-sta ...

Book Award of the

Society for Cinema and Media Studies The Society for Cinema and Media Studies (formerly the Society for Cinema Studies) is an organization of professors and scholars. Its home office is at the University of Oklahoma, but it has members throughout the world. SCMS holds an annual confer ...

, the Charles Hatfield Book Prize of the Comics Studies Society, and the Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work. Wanzo researches

and

, and the U.S. history of

popular fiction In the book-trade, genre fiction, also known as formula fiction, or commercial fiction,Girolimon, Mars"Types of Genres: A Literary Guide" Southern New Hampshire University, 11 December 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2024. encompasses fictional ...

cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

affect theory Affect theory is a theory that seeks to organize affects, sometimes used interchangeably with emotions or subjectively experienced feelings, into discrete categories and to typify their physiological, social, interpersonal, and internalized manife ...

, and graphic storytelling.

Selected works

* *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wanzo, Rebecca 1975 births Living people Writers from Dayton, Ohio 21st-century American women writers African-American women academics American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American women writers Miami University alumni Duke University alumni Ohio State University faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty 21st-century African-American women American academics of women's studies Feminist studies scholars Black studies scholars American studies scholars Eisner Award winners Comics scholars