Aileen A Feng

Aileen A. Feng is an Associate Professor and Director of Italian Studies at the University of Arizona. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (2008) and an M.A. from the University of Notre Dame (2002). Her research focuses on late-Medieval and Renaissance Italian literature, with comparative interests in Latin and Medieval-Renaissance French literature. She is an External Affiliate at the Center for Italian Studies, University of Notre Dame, and a Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Gender & Women's Studies.

Her scholarly work examines intersections of literature and politics, gender performativity, Petrarchism, and neo-Latin humanism. Key publications include Writing Beloveds: Humanist Petrarchism and the Politics of Gender (2017) and co-edited volumes on Gaspara Stampa and Burchiello. She has held significant fellowships, including a 2023-2024 NEH Fellowship at the Newberry Library and a 2016-2017 Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fellowship at Villa I Tatti.

Current research projects include a monograph on early modern female misogyny and a translation/critical edition of Pietro Bembo's Rime. She teaches courses on empowered women in Italian literature and honors thesis supervision. Her work bridges literary analysis with gender theory, emphasizing marginalized voices in Renaissance cultural production.