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Akane Kanai is an Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick, specializing in feminist cultural studies. Her research focuses on relational politics and identity, shaped by emotional life and the spatio-temporalities of online and popular culture. She investigates the claims of knowledge, authority, and legitimacy made and negotiated within everyday spaces. Kanai's work is primarily informed by feminist critical race theory and adopts discursive empirical approaches from cultural studies and media studies. Prior to joining Warwick in 2025, she worked at Monash University in Melbourne, where she convened the Gender Media Lab and the Digital Intimacies Research Group. In 2021, she received the Monash Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research as an Early Career Scholar in Humanities and Social Sciences. Her significant contributions include mapping feminist concepts in online culture and researching intra-feminist conflicts. Currently, she is completing a large four-year project focused on the mobilization of feminism by young Australian feminists in their everyday lives and is in the process of publishing a monograph with Duke University Press in Spring 2026. Kanai is also involved in a project examining young people's selfie-editing practices alongside several researchers. Her selected publications reflect a commitment to exploring femininity and representation in digital culture.
University of Warwick • Coventry, GB
Teaching and research in feminist cultural studies, focusing on relational politics and online culture.
Monash University • Melbourne, Australia
Led the Gender Media Lab and Digital Intimacies Research Group.
Includes General, Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Biomedical, and Manufacturing Engineering. Most programs fall under English Band A.