Dr. Paola Zamperini has a long career as a researcher and educator in the area of Gender and Sexuality. Furthermore, in her PhD she specialized in Chinese Literature and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. With this interdisciplinary approach, she maintains a keen interest in creating learning environments marked by feminist and Queer theory, while delving into Chinese and East Asian cultural traditions.

After joining the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at Northwestern University, she has served as Associate Director of the Gender and Sexuality Program at Northwestern. As a professor, she has taught introductory courses on sexuality studies, sexual subjects and traditions of feminist thought. In the field of Asian cultures, she has focused on pre-modern Chinese literature, fashion theory and history, Buddhist literary cultures in East Asia, contemporary Chinese fiction, film and popular culture.

With her commitment to demonstrating the relevance of China studies to society and politics, Dr. Paola Zamperini has worked in Europe, developing intellectual and research connections with leading sinological centers. In this regard, she has collaborated as a mentor for undergraduate and graduate students at the Center for Asian and Transcultural Studies, which is considered the leading Asian studies center in Europe at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. 

Also throughout her career she has written and published numerous books and articles on representations of prostitution, female suicide, fashion theory and history, and spiritual resonance. She has also related many of these topics to Chinese literature and culture.

• Associate Director of the Gender and Sexuality Program at Northwestern University, United States
• Director of the Department of Asian Languages and Culture, Northwestern University
• Associate Professor of Asian Languages and Civilizations at Amherst College 
• Researcher and Mentor at the Center for Asian and Transcultural Studies at the University of Heidelberg, Germany 
• Ph.D. in Chinese Literature and Women's and Gender Studies from the University of California at Berkeley
• Graduate in Chinese Language and Literature from Ca' Foscari University, Venice