Fellows » Current Fellows » IHUM Fellow: Renu Cappelli, PhD
In 2007, Renu Cappelli completed her PhD in Performance Studies at UC Berkeley with a designated emphasis on race, gender, and sexuality.
Her dissertation explores the uses of spectacle and theatricality in contemporary "post" black art, specifically the work of Suzan-Lori Parks, Kara Walker, and William Pope.L. Employing an interdisciplinary methodology to read the various ways these artists destabilize common sense notions of race and difference, her dissertation also elucidates connections among arts media, i.e. visual art and theater, performance and installation.
In her scholarship and teaching, Renu is consistently drawn to deepening understanding and appreciation for the opportunities that communication across differences can afford, especially when it comes to tending to and appreciating our various identities, abilities, and desires. She was born in Italy, traveled through India, Greece, and France for much of her childhood, and her adolescent years were spent in Hawaii, before heading off to college in Minnesota. These various locations have inevitably nurtured her sensitivity to the diverse viewpoints context can provide, and she is committed to fostering such insight in her writing and in her teaching.