معرفی
Lena Hill is Provost and Professor of English and Africana Studies at Washington and Lee University, where she has served since 2021, having previously been Dean of the College starting in 2018. She is a leading scholar in African American literature and visual culture, with a distinguished international reputation in Ralph Ellison studies.
Her research interests include African American literature, visual culture, Blackness and representation, literary criticism, diversity in higher education, and American modernism. She explores how visual forms shape African American literary traditions and cultural identity.
The recent publications highlight her interdisciplinary focus on literature, race, visuality, and institutional history. Her work spans book-length studies on Ralph Ellison, African American student experiences, and the aesthetics of Black literary expression.
- Visualizing Blackness and the Creation of the African American Literary Tradition (2014)
- Invisible Hawkeyes: African Americans at the University of Iowa during the Long Civil Rights Era (2016)
- Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man: A Reference Guide (2008)
Dr. Hill has held significant academic leadership roles, including Associate Vice President and Interim Chief Diversity Officer at the University of Iowa, where she led diversity units. She serves on the National Humanities Alliance Board and the Modernist Studies Editorial Board, reflecting her commitment to advancing humanities scholarship and equity in academia.
She earned her B.A. from Howard University (Class of 1997), with additional studies at Williams College and Richmond College in Florence, Italy, and completed her Ph.D. in English from Yale University. She mentors students and scholars in African American literary and cultural studies, though specific advisees are not listed in the text.
Dr. Hill is affiliated with major academic boards and contributes to national conversations on diversity, humanities, and modernist studies. Her work bridges scholarship, administration, and institutional transformation.
