Sweta Gyanu BaniyaView profile
Associate Professor
Dr. Sweta Gyanu Baniya is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Professional, and Technical Writing in the Department of English at Virginia Tech, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. She also serves as an Affiliate Faculty in the Women and Gender Studies Program. Her academic work bridges transnational disaster studies, risk/crisis communication, non-Western rhetorical traditions, and community engagement. Dr. Baniya's research centers around global issues of natural and manmade disasters, drawing together non-Western and Western paradigms to produce new insights and public interventions. She is the author of 'Transnational Assemblages: Social Justice and Crisis Communication during Disaster' and has published 40 peer-reviewed articles across Humanities, Technical Communication, Disaster studies, and Engineering. Her second book, 'Rhetorics of Disaster: Transnational Feminist Actions and Approaches to COVID-19,' is under advanced contract with The Ohio State University Press. Her scholarly work demonstrates a clear trajectory toward addressing complex global challenges through interdisciplinary approaches. Recent publications focus on transnational crisis communication, digital humanitarianism, and the intersection of technology with social justice in disaster contexts. Her work consistently emphasizes community knowledge, ethical considerations, and the integration of diverse cultural perspectives in crisis response. Rhetoric Society of America's Fellows' Early Career Award (2025) CCCC Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication (Honorable Mention, 2021) Coalition of Community Writing Emerging Scholars Award CCCC Chair's Memorial Award (2020) CCCC Scholars for the Dream Award (2019) CPTSC and Bedford St. Martin's Diversity Scholarship Award (2019) ATTW Amplification Award (2019) Kairos Service Award for Graduate Students and Adjuncts (2019) Dr. Baniya has received over 14 major awards for her scholarship and service, along with nine competitive grants including the ACLS Digital Justice Seed Grant for her refugee citizenship application project. She is a founding member of #nextGEN, the first international graduate student listserv in her field, and has led community-based projects that directly impact refugee communities. Her teaching spans undergraduate and graduate courses focused on global rhetorics, international community engagement, and risk communication, with student testimonials highlighting her exceptional preparation and feedback. Her research is deeply connected to her prior professional experience as an English News Reader and Editor for Nepal's national radio, Radio Nepal, and as a journalist with China's Xinhua News Agency, which informs her community-centered approach to communication and disaster response.












