Overview
Karen Jaime (B.A., Cornell University; Ph.D.; New York University) is Associate Professor of Performing and Media Arts and Latina/o Studies. The recipient of a Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Fellowship for 2023-2024, Karen is a former Mellon/HIDVL Scholar in Residence at the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics at NYU, a former Institute for Citizens & Scholars Career Enhancement Junior Faculty Fellow (*formerly the Woodrow Wilson Career), a former Rockefeller Foundation Research Fellow and Chancellor’s Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Karen’s award-winning monograph, The Queer Nuyorican: Racialized Sexualities and Aesthetics in Loisaida (NYU Press, 2021) argues for a reexamination of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe as a historically queer space, both in terms of sexualities and performance practices. Her critical writing has been published, or is forthcoming, in Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, e-Misférica, Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism, ASAP/J, TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, Performance Matters and in QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking. Karen is also an accomplished spoken word/performance artist who served as the host/curator of the Friday Night Poetry Slam at the world-renowned Nuyorican Poets Cafe (2003-2005). She also co-edited an anthology celebrating the life and legacy of Nuyorican Poets Cafe co-founder, Miguel Algarín entitled Memorias de Miguel: The Hard Work of Love. Her poetry is included in The Best of Panic! En Vivo From the East Village, Flicker and Spark: A Queer Anthology of Spoken Word and Poetry, in a special issue of Sinister Wisdom: A Multicultural Lesbian Literary and Art Journal, “Out Latina Lesbians,” and in the anthology Latinas: Struggles and Protest in 21st Century USA.
Research Focus
Latina/o/x studies, performance studies, queer studies, feminist, gender, & sexuality studies, American studies, media studies, Latina/o/x diasporas & expressive cultures, popular culture/spoken word & slam poetry, visual art & criticism, minoritarian aesthetics, queer nightlife cultures & communities.
Awards and Honors
2023-2024 Scholar-in-Residence Fellowship, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY.
2023 Faculty Champion Award—Junior Faculty, Graduate School Office of Inclusion & Student Engagement and the Graduate and Professional Student Diversity Council, Cornell University.
2022 The Victor Villaseñor Best Latino Focused Nonfiction Book Award (English) at the International Latino Book Awards, for The Queer Nuyorican: Racialized Sexualitie and Aesthetics in Loisaida.
2022 Honorable Mention, Best LGBTQ+ Themed Book at the International Latino Book Awards for The Queer Nuyorican: Racialized Sexualitie and Aesthetics in Loisaida.
2022 Mellon/HIDVL Scholar in Residence, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, New York University, New York, NY.
2020 “Nightlife” Course selected #3 on the list of 17 of the most innovative courses of the 2019-2020 academic year by Campuswire.
2019 Career Enhancement Junior Faculty Fellow, Institute for Citizens & Scholars (*formerly the Woodrow Wilson Foundation).
2018 Visiting Scholar, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, New York University, New York, NY.
2017 “Spoken Word, Hip-Hop Theatre, and the Politics of Performance” course selected as “Best of Cornell” for 2017 during the Trustee-Council Annual Meeting (TCAM).
Publications
The Queer Nuyorican: Racialized Sexualities and Aesthetics in Loisaida (NYU Press, June 2021).
“‘I’m A Stripper Ho’: The Sonics of Cardi B’s Ratchet, Diasporic Feminism.” Performance Matters, “Special Issue: Sound Acts, Part 2: Receiving and Reflecting Vibration.” Guest Editors: Patricia Herrera, Caitlin Marshall, and Marci McMahon, Vol. 8, No. 1 (May 2022): 83-96.
“Talking about Joy, Legacies, and Afro futurity: An Interview with Lola Flash.” ASAP/J, 8 March 2021, http://asapjournal.com/talking-about-joy-legacies-and-afrofuturity-an-interview-with-lola-flash/.
“‘Chasing Rainbows:’ Black Cracker and Queer, Trans Afrofuturity.” TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, “Special Issue: The Issue of Blackness.” Guest editors: Treva C. Ellison, Kai M. Green, Matt Richardson, and C. Riley Snorton, Vol. 4, No. 2, (May 2017): 208- 218.
"'Da' Pa' Lo' Do:' Rita Indiana's Queer, Racialized Dominicaness." Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism, 19, no. 2 (July 2015): 85-93.
"De La Vega: Challenging Spaces and Minds.” Discovering New York Artist De La Vega, Ed. Rachel Goldberg. Miami: BookSurge Publishing, 2008, pgs. 68-75.
“A Political Statement.” Latinas: Protests and Struggles in the 21st Century USA. Ed. Iris Morales. Red Sugarcane Press.
“Dominicaness Defined,” and “Changing Stations.” Flicker and Spark: A Contemporary Anthology of Queer Spoken Word and Poetry. Eds. Regie Cabico and Brittany Fonte. Lowbrow Press, March 2013: 232-235.
“Smells Like Home.” The Best of Panic: En Vivo from the East Village. Ed. Charlie Vázquez. FireKing Press, December 2010: 142-147.
"A Political Statement." Sinister Wisdom: A Multicultural Lesbian Literary and Art Journal, "Out Latina Lesbians," 97, Summer 2015: 117-119. Special Issue Eds. Nivea Castro and Geny Cabral.
In the news
- Performance and conference honor Viramontes
- Anthology celebrates Nuyorican Poets Cafe founder
- The Queer Nuyorican wins at the 24th Annual International Latino Book Awards
- Book explores historical queerness of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe
- New impact grants expand humanities research
- New series connects students, community with artists and scholars
- New series connects students, community with artists and scholars
- Award-winning poet, actor, activist to visit Nov. 2