Assistant Professor

About

  • Role

    Faculty

  • Position

    • Assistant Professor
    • Director

  • Concentration

    • Communication Studies Online Program

  • Department

    • All College of Liberal Arts and Communication Studies

  • Education

    • PhD, Rhetoric and Writing

Biography

Vanessa Cozza is the Director of the Communication Studies Online Program at Colorado State University. She previously taught a variety of writing and advanced rhetoric courses, both facilitated in person and online; some of which included first-year writing, research writing, rhetorical conventions and principles, rhetoric in popular culture, and the rhetoric of racism. Her current research investigates how nineteenth-century board games reflect the ongoing process of reinventing and redefining American society through cultural artifacts and embody narratives of the nation’s struggles and accomplishments, revealing insights into history and the rhetorical power of design-based messaging. 

First Generation Story

My story begins in Philadelphia, where I was born the youngest of three children. My parents and two older brothers came to the United States from Argentina a decade before I was born, making me the only American-born member of the family. When I was in second grade, my teacher advised my parents to stop speaking to me in Spanish at home, believing it would help me learn English and improve my performance in school. Fortunately, my parents ignored this advice and continued to speak to me in our family's native language. Because of my parents' decision, I grew up bilingual. I went on to become the first in my family to earn a graduate degree in English, a journey that has come to define my identity. This personal and professional accomplishment is a direct result of my parents' love and commitment to our culture and home language.