Jill Meredith Lane

Jill Meredith Lane is an Associate Professor of Spanish & Portuguese and of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University's Faculty of Arts & Science. She has made significant contributions to the fields of Latin American theater studies, performance studies, and race theory, with a particular focus on Cuban cultural history.

Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from New York University (2000), an M.A. in Theatre Arts from Brown University (1991), and a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University (1989). Her research interests span Latin American theater and performance art, art and activism, and comparative approaches to race and performance in the Americas.

Lane's scholarly work demonstrates a sustained engagement with blackface performance in Latin America, particularly in Cuba, examining how racial representation functions in theatrical contexts and contributes to national identity formation. Her publications reveal a trajectory from historical analysis of 19th century Cuban performance to contemporary examinations of decolonial gestures and political resistance in performance art. A recurring theme throughout her work is the examination of how bodies in performance become sites of political contestation and cultural meaning-making.

Her major publications include the influential monograph Blackface Cuba, 1840-1895 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005) and co-editing The Ends of Performance with Peggy Phelan (NYU Press, 1998). She has numerous articles in prestigious journals and edited collections, with recent work focusing on political gestures in contemporary art and the theoretical framework for understanding decolonial performance.

• Director, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, NYU (2012-2020)
• Co-Editor of e-misférica, the journal of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics (2008-2018)

Lane has been actively involved in academic leadership and continues to present her research at major conferences worldwide, demonstrating ongoing scholarly engagement with her fields of expertise. Her work bridges historical analysis with contemporary performance practices, offering critical frameworks for understanding the political dimensions of theatrical representation across the Americas.