Yongnan Zhang is currently a third year Ph.D. student in Italian Studies at Ohio State University. Her research interests include modern Italian literature and cultural studies, migration studies, affect theory, emotion, material culture and infrastructure. She is currently working on her dissertation exploring the interactions between emotional paradigms and migration, such as anxiety, hope, frustration and mourning, which are challenged and reshaped by the transnational reality in Italy. She is also working on activism and revolution as cultural tradition in popular cultural products in Italy from the 70s to the 80s.

Yongnan Zhang obtained her B.A. in Italian Language and Literature from Shanghai International Studies University in 2018. She developed her interests in post-war Italian politics and popular culture during her exchange program in 2019, at University of Trento. In 2021, she graduated from Shanghai International Studies University with a M.A. in Italian Studies.