Dana Renga

Dana Renga is a Professor of Italian and Dean of Arts and Humanities at The Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences. She holds a PhD from UCLA (2001) and has been a faculty member since 2007, advancing through ranks to Full Professor (2020). Her research focuses on Italian film/media studies with emphasis on television, mafia narratives, gender studies, and casting practices. Core faculty in Film Studies and affiliated with Comparative Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies departments.

Education: PhD, MA, BA in Italian Literature from UCLA (2001, 1996, 1993). Prior academic roles include positions at Colorado College (2001–2007) and Sapienza University (visiting scholar). Leadership includes Department Chair (2017–2021), Film Studies Co-Director, and University Senate roles.

Research highlights include monographs like Watching Sympathetic Perpetrators on Italian Television (2019) and Unfinished Business: Screening the Italian Mafia (2013). Current projects explore casting practices in Italian TV and transnational crime narratives. Over 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters across Italian cinema, TV, and cultural history.

Awards include grants from Ohio State’s Global Arts and Humanities Initiative, Coca-Cola Research Foundation, and the Virginia Hull Award. Extensive invited lectures globally (e.g., Stanford, UCLA, University of Bologna). Editor for journals like The Italianist and L’avventura. Supervised numerous PhD dissertations in Italian media and cultural studies.

Teaching spans undergraduate courses on Italian culture and cinema, and graduate seminars on gender in film and videographic criticism. Active in academic service: co-founded the 'Global Mediterranean' and 'Humanities and Medicine' working groups, and serves on national committees for Italian studies.