Wanzo majored in English, History, Black World Studies, and American studies at Miami University where she graduated, magna cum laude, in May 1997.[2] 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."[4] Wanzo was one of 95 students nationwide to win a Mellon Fellowship in humanistic studies.[4]
Wanzo completed a Ph.D. in English with certificates in women's studies and African and African American studies at Duke University in 2003.[5] 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.[6]
Wanzo joined Ohio State University 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.[5]
In the Fall of 2010, Wanzo joined Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis 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.[5]
Wanzo, Rebecca (2009). The Suffering Will Not Be Televised: African American Women and Sentimental Political Storytelling. SUNY Press. ISBN978-1-4384-2882-6.[8]
Wanzo, Rebecca (2020). The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging. NYU Press. ISBN978-1-4798-1363-6.
^ abcdWanzo, Rebecca A. (2021). "Curriculum Vitae"(PDF). Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
^Wanzo, Rebecca Ann (2003). The reading cure and other sentimental interventions: reading contemporary sentimentality through African American women's narratives (Ph.D. thesis). Duke University. OCLC53186695.
^"Rebecca Wanzo". Washington University in St. Louis Arts & Sciences. 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
^Isoke, Zenzele (2012). "Review of The Suffering Will Not Be Televised: African American Women and Sentimental Political Storytelling; Behind the Mask of the Strong Black Woman: Voice and the Embodiment of a Costly Performance". Feminist Formations. 24 (2): 217–221. ISSN2151-7363. JSTOR23275117.