The Department of Performing and Media Arts congratulates Caitlin Kane on her acceptance into a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor at Kent State University within the School of Theatre and Dance. Caitlin has received her PhD with PMA at Cornell University and has been a part of notable projects on campus.
For her PhD dissertation, she wrote Acts of Witness: Research-Based Performance, Post Truth Politics, and the Cultivation of Resistant Imaginations, which explores how artists expand public understanding of knowledge through research methodologies. Additionally, the paper points to the importance of research-based performance methodologies so that artists can understand the historical and informational depths of the storytelling. When art is backed by research, it allows the audience a better ability to make sense of the world around them to envision and enact a more equitable future.
While creating her dissertation, Caitlin continued to work on various queer and feminist performance projects. Some recent projects she was a part of at PMA include, Situating Lesbian Desire, Spill, The Loneliness Project, and Climates of Change. Outside of Cornell, Caitlin participated in assistant directing Leigh Fondakowski's newest play, Casa Cushman, which follows the story of a lesbian actress in the nineteenth century who aimed to emancipate the woman around her. Caitlin also worked with Joshua Groffman and Sarah Heady over the last year as a dramaturgist in Heady's opera, Halcyon, which tells the story of the closure of an all woman's college. She also collaborated with Kelli Simpkins to develop The Loneliness Project, an interview-based play discussing the struggles faced by LGBTQIA+ communities in Chicago.
Kane's array of works displays her passion for directing and bringing critical social issues to light. Her PhD research was supported by Caitlin's Provost Diversity Fellowship, the Engaged Cornell Graduate Student Grant, the New York Public Humanities Fellowship, and the Fulbright Fellowship.
