By: Esther Animalu
Christina Lane, professor and associate dean of graduate studies at the School of Communication, has been selected to participate in the University of Miami Public Voices Fellow for The OpEd Project. This year-long initiative strives to help shape contemporary conversations on campus.
Through a joint effort between the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship and the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Public Voice Fellowship will foster a dynamic platform where key leaders can collaborate and engage in diverse discourse.
“I’m humbled by the opportunity,” said Lane. “I hope to add some dimension to current conversations about the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in the entertainment industries. It concerns me that deeper threads and long-term consequences get lost.”
Lane will join approximately 20 women and underrepresented thought leaders from across the university to engage in the OpEd’s program.
The OpEd Project’s Public Voices Fellowship is a national program that was first launched at Yale, Stanford, and Princeton. Today, the project is now accessible to numerous colleges and organizations throughout the nation.
Lane has published many books and notable works pertaining to feminism and culture.
Her work has been published in Feminist Media Histories, Cinema Journal, the Quarterly Review of Film and Television, among others.
“My published work thus far has thankfully given me many opportunities for public engagement, and I’ve been able to help shed light on the challenges for feminist film historians as well as concerns for women in Hollywood,” said Lane. “Through the tools and strategies I learn through The OpEd Project, my scholarship will have an even wider impact.”
Lane has contributed many essays to edited collections, such as “Contemporary American Independent Film;” “Feminism Goes to the Movies” and “Hitchcock and Adaptation. Lane also serves as the President of the University Film and Video Association and on the Steering Committee of Women and Film History International.
“I’m looking for concrete ways to impact the public sphere,” said Lane. “There tends to be a wide gap between the ongoing research in my subdiscipline of feminist film studies and what circulates as common knowledge. But at its core, this research is a matter of equality, truth, and an ongoing, accruing understanding not only of how history unfolds but how it is culturally inscribed.”
Participants are expected to attend four seminars and take part in monthly mentoring calls, one-on-one coaching sessions, publish two op-eds throughout the course of a year and participate in future Public Voices cohort gatherings and related initiatives at the University.
Through the initiative, Lane said that she hopes to increase the reach and impact of underrepresented thinkers to ensure that their viewpoints contribute to vital conversations on modern-day issues.
“I look forward to meeting my fellow participants and learning from their many experiences,” said Lane. “I’m also excited by the idea of working with coaches and mentors, which is an incredible opportunity.
