Professor
Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Chicago
On Leave, 2024-2025

Tel. 713-743-0728
Email. npdegenova@uh.edu

Biographical Summary

Professor De Genova was hired by the University of Houston as Chair of the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies in Fall 2018 and served in that role for six years.  During the 2024-25 academic year, he is on research leave as a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.

Professor De Genova is an internationally renowned sociocultural anthropologist and an eminent interdisciplinary scholar.  His academic work has contributed to multiple disciplines and interdisciplinary fields of study.

Professor De Genova is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of 7 books, and co-editor of 2 forthcoming books which will appear in print in 2026.  In addition, he is the author of more than 100 scholarly articles and book chapters.  His scholarship has been published in translation in 10 languages.

Professor De Genova was included on Stanford University’s 2022 list of the Top 2% most influential academic researchers in all fields (including the natural sciences, engineering, and medicine), based on a comprehensive ranking of the citations of published work.  Dr. De Genova was also recognized with a 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at UH.  This award honors senior faculty who have “achieved preeminence in their field for a nationally and internationally renowned, innovative, and transformative body of scholarship, coupled with the strong promise of continuing excellence.”

Professor De Genova has professional academic experience in four countries. He previously held appointments in Geography at King's College London (2013-16); and in Anthropology at Goldsmiths/ University of London (2011-13), Columbia University (2000-09) and Stanford University (1997-99). De Genova was also a visiting Professor at the University of Bern (Switzerland) in 2009 and the University of Amsterdam in 2010. In 2007-08, he was awarded a Marie Curie International Research Fellowship at the University of Warwick (UK).