Diana Taylor
The Department of Performance Studies salutes University Professor Diana Taylor as she steps down from her role as Director of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics.
Diana was the founder of Hemi, 22 years ago, while she was also chairing our department. Diana led this incredible Institute throughout these past two decades to create one of the most dynamic research centers in the field of performance studies in the world. With its ever-expanding archive of performance art of the Americas focusing on Latinx and Latin-American performance: with its Hemi-Press; with its peer-reviewed journal e-mispherica; with the EmergeNYC initiative; with its countless series of lectures, roundtables, public talks; and with its unparalleled “Encuentros”, a mix of academic conference and performance festival held biannually across the Americas (from Canada to Chile, from Mexico to Brazil, from Colombia to the US), The Hemispheric Institute, under Diana’s vision, helped reshape our understanding of what Performance Studies is and what Performance Studies can do.
So, Diana, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, gracias, obrigado -- for everything that you and Hemi gave to our department, to our field, and to our expanded hemispheric community of artists-scholars-activists. We wish you all the best, and can’t wait for learn about your next projects!