As Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College, William D. Romanowski teaches courses in film, communication and culture studies. He received B.A. (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) and M.A. (Youngstown State University) degrees in English and a Ph.D. in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University.

Romanowski is a contributing author of Dancing in the Dark: Youth, Popular Culture and the Electronic Media (Eerdmans, 1991) and co-author of Risky Business: Rock in Film (Transaction, 1991). He has also written numerous other book chapters, journal essays, and popular articles. Critics commended his book, Pop Culture Wars: Religion and the Role of Entertainment in American Life (InterVarsity, 1996), as "remarkably balanced" and "a stunning portrait of the interplay of religion and popular culture."

Romanowski's Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture (Brazos Press, 2001) received the 2002 ECPA Gold Medallion Award (Christianity and Society) and was praised as “a work of a passionate imagination and incisive intellect” and “a lively and much needed Christian perspective on the popular arts.” A revised and expanded second edition (2007) has been described as an "imaginative and down-to-earth approach to popular art as art."

A three-part DVD series based on Eyes Wide Open and produced by the Calvin Media Foundation has been applauded as “absolutely the best series now out to help you explore the dimensions of film and its communication power in our world today.” This DVD series was a 2002 Aegis Award Winner (previous winners include NBC News, Warner Bros. Pay-TV, ESPN2 and the Discovery Channel) and received a Communicator Award of Distinction 2002.

Romanowski has also worked as a musical and dramatic performer and lectures regularly on subjects dealing with American culture and the entertainment industry. The program at a rock festival in England referred to him as "an all-round brainy geezer and lovely with it." He took that as a compliment.