Rebecca Wanzo

Associate Professor

Rebecca Wanzo is Associate Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Associate Director of the Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St Louis.  She received her Ph.D. in English from Duke University. Her first book, "The Suffering Will Not Be Televised: African American Women and Sentimental Political Storytelling" was published by SUNY in 2009.  Her primary research areas are affect theory, African American literature and culture, feminist theory, and popular culture (particularly graphic storytelling and representations of African Americans in popular culture). She has published essays on topics such as African American literature and comics, race and child abduction, black women film and television performers, discourses about African American women and romantic love, “post-race” politics, and the role of feelings in police brutality discourse.


black panther comic

Why the stakes are so high for the Black Panther

Media

Discussions of racism in superhero comics is a long – albeit often troubled – tradition.