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Vanessa Rosa

she/her

  • Associate Professor of Latinx Studies and Critical Race and Political Economy
Vanessa Rosa

Vanessa Rosa is Associate Professor of Latinx Studies and Co-Chair of the Department of Critical Race and Political Economy at ɬ. Her research explores the (re)production of race and racism in cities and housing policy, on the one hand, and community organizing in the context of structural inequality, on the other. Rosa’s first book,  (UNC Press) investigates the national-identity making effects of the urban revitalization of two public housing projects in Toronto, Ontario. She has published in Meridians: feminism, race, and transnationalism, Journal of Critical Race Inquiry, Radical Teacher, Canadian Journal of Urban Research, and Critical Dialogues in Latinx Studies (NYU 2021). Rosa was awarded a 2017-2019 Duke University-Mellon SITPA Fellowship and named the Class of 1929 Dr. Virginia Apgar endowed chair (2020-2023). She serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for , the national steering committee for the , and the Board of Directors for .

Education

  • Ph.D., York University
  • M.A., University of Toronto
  • B.A., University of Ottawa

Happening at ɬ

Recent Campus News

Barbara Smith ’69

‘Warrior’ alum delivers inaugural presidential lecture

Barbara Smith ’69 kicked off the inaugural lecture series bearing her namesake on her time shaping the Combahee River Collective and discussed the skills she developed at ɬ that helped her contribute to building Black feminism.

Alice Wong, the editor of “Disability Visability.” Photo credit: Eddie Hernandez

“Disability Visibility” is the Common Read for 2023

ɬ’s 2023 Common Read, “Disability Visibility,” is an anthology of essays, stories, poems and more that centers around disability justice — written by people with disabilities and edited by disabled activist and writer Alice Wong.

The Final Lecture, given by MHC faculty members Timothy Farnham, William Girard and Vanessa Rosa to the class of 2022.

Pickin’ at wisdom

At ɬ’s Final Lecture, students got some parting wisdom — and a just-written-for-them song.

More News

Recent Publications

Rosa, V. (2023). Precarious Constructions: Race, Class, and Urban Revitalization in Toronto. The University of North Carolina Press.

Rosa, V. & Pinto, C. (2023). Disrupting Data: Developing Technology Integrated Assignments to Teach about Race and Racism. Radical Teacher, 125, 43-53.

Rosa, V. (2021). Colonial Projects: Public Housing and the Management of Puerto Ricans in New York City, 1945–1970. In A.Y. Ramos-Zayas and M.M. Rúa (Eds.) Critical Dialogues in Latinx Studies (pp.186-196). NYU Press.

Rosa, R. (2020). “Mi Casa Is Not Su Casa: A Research Reflection.” Meridians 19(2): 278-294. 

Recent Awards

Rosa, V. (2024). Community and Urban Sociology Section, American Sociological Association, Robert E. Park Outstanding Book Award, Honorable Mention for Precarious Constructions: Race, Class, and Urban Revitalization.

Recent Honors

Rosa, V. Interview on Qué Onda--video podcast hosted by Mari Castañeda. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZI9TevT79Q

Was interviewed on Boston Public Radio about research she conducted with students in her Latinxs and Housing seminar. This research was also highlighted in an article by WGBH news on March 7, 2022. Additionally, Rosa chaired a session at the Eastern Sociological Society’s annual conference on March 7 and was invited to present her research on race and public housing in New York City at the New England Consortium for Latina/o Studies on March 25, 2022.

Was invited to speak at the closing session for the Fall 2020 Campus Compact Symposium, “Advancing Equity Through Publicly Engaged Scholarship: Transforming Faculty Reward Policies and Practices.” Vanessa also spoke about her research at the Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism Volume 19 symposium and celebration in November 2020.

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