Aimee Meredith Cox

Aimee Meredith Cox is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at New York University (NYU). Her work bridges critical ethnography, dance studies, and critical race theory. She holds a BA from Vassar College (1994), MA (2002), and PhD (2006) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Her research focuses on urban/rural U.S. contexts, performance ethnography, and youth cultural production. Notable works include Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship (2015) and Gender: Space (2018). Cox combines academic scholarship with performance art, having toured internationally with Ailey II and Dance Theatre of Harlem. Yoga is central to her praxis, integrating somatic practices into her teaching and research.

Her current project, Living Past Slow Death, explores Black communities in Cincinnati, Ohio. Awards include the Victor Turner Book Prize (2016) and Nancy Weiss Malkiel Award. She has held fellowships at Barnard College and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Experimental Ethnography.

Grants include funding from the Ford Foundation, New Jersey School Improvement Grant, and Kellogg Foundation. Cox’s work spans anthropological writing, performance interventions, and social justice advocacy through arts education.