Rocco W. Ronza is a fellow of the Department of Political Sciences and adjunct professor of International Political Economy, Political Geography and Policies and Multilingualism at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (USCS). He received a laurea degree in Political sciences at UCSC and earned his PhD in Sociology and social research from the Università degli Studi di Trento.

Rocco published academic articles on South African politics, the politics of language, and the urban history, sociology and cultural heritage of Milan in Italian and international journals. He regularly comments on Southern Africa's current affairs for printed media, online magazines, radios and television channels. He is a member of the South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS) and Associate fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) for the Africa Programme.

His current research interests cover South Africa and Southern Africa from a comparative and global perspective; the comparative analysis of language policy and linguistic regimes; and the role of cities as cultural hubs and economic drivers in global and place development across the Global North/Global South divide.