Rebecca Wanzo facts for kids

Rebecca Ann Wanzo (born in 1975) is an American professor and author. She is an expert on many topics, including African-American literature, culture, and comic art. She is a professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

In 2021, Professor Wanzo won a famous award called the Eisner Award. She received it for her book, The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging. The Eisner Awards are like the Oscars for the comic book world.

Early Life and Schooling

Rebecca Wanzo was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1975. As a young student, she attended Lincoln Elementary and Stivers Middle schools. She was also involved in arts programs like the Muse Machine and the Dayton Art Institute. In 1993, she graduated from Colonel White High School.

After high school, Wanzo went to Miami University. She studied English, History, Black World Studies, and American studies. She was an excellent student and graduated with high honors (magna cum laude) in 1997. One of her professors, Andrew Cayton, said she was one of the best students he had ever taught.

Because of her great work, Wanzo won a Mellon Fellowship. This special award is given to only a small number of students in the country to help them continue their studies.

Wanzo then went to Duke University to earn her Ph.D., which is the highest degree you can get in a subject. She received her Ph.D. in English in 2003. Her final research project, called a dissertation, was about how feelings and emotions are shown in stories by African American women.

Career as a Professor

In 2003, Professor Wanzo began her teaching career at Ohio State University. She taught in the departments of women's studies and African American and African studies. By 2009, she had been promoted to associate professor.

In 2011, she moved to Washington University in St. Louis. There, she became an associate professor in the women and gender studies department. In 2020, she was promoted again to become a full professor and the head of the department.

Award-Winning Book

Professor Wanzo's 2020 book, The Content of Our Caricature, received a lot of praise. It explores how African Americans have been shown in comics and cartoons throughout history.

Besides the Eisner Award, the book also won:

• The Katherine Singer Kovács Book Award
• The Charles Hatfield Book Prize from the Comics Studies Society

Areas of Study

Professor Wanzo is an expert in many interesting areas. She researches and writes about:

• Books and stories by African American authors
• African American culture
• How race is talked about and understood in society (critical race theory)
• The culture of fans and fandoms (fan studies)
• Ideas about women's experiences and rights (feminist theory)
• Comic books and graphic novels

Selected works

• Wanzo, R. (2020). The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging. New York University Press.
• Wanzo, R. (2011). The Suffering Will Not Be Televised: African American Women and Sentimental Political Storytelling. State University of New York Press.