Black Performance and Cultural Criticism Series

Dr. Valerie B. Lee

Dr. Valerie Lee has published books and refereed journal articles in the fields of African American Women’s Literature and Culture, Black Folklore, and Law and Narrative. She is an interdisciplinary scholar, authoring such texts as Granny Midwives and Black Women Writers, a scholarly book in the field of Medical Humanities. Dr. Lee is founding editor (co-editor E. Patrick Johnson) of The Ohio State University Press Series, Black Performance and Cultural Criticism, publishing dozens of books on the performativity of slavery, re-imaging the Middle Passage, Black maternal figures, Black masculinity in U.S. history, and other related topics. (See the above photo)

As a full professor at The Ohio State University, she held tenure in English with courtesy appointments in Comparative Studies, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, the Center for Folklore Studies, the Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies, and the Department of African American and African Studies. In addition to teaching a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses and authoring the textbook, The Prentice Hall Anthology of African American Women’s Literature, she holds the lone distinction of having chaired three different Ohio State academic units (the Department of English [for two terms]; the Department of Women’s Studies; and the Department of African American and African Studies). In 2015 she retired as Ohio State’s Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Vice President for Outreach and Engagement, and Chief Diversity Officer.

Dr. Lee is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including Ohio State’s highest teaching award, the OSU Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, as well as its highest faculty service award, the Ohio State University Faculty Award for Distinguished Service. Upon her recent retirement, she was elected to The Ohio State University Emeritus Academy. A former president of the Association of Departments of English, she was awarded the national Distinguished Service to the Profession of English Studies at the 134th Modern Language Annual Convention in Chicago, January 2019. Not one to relax in retirement, Dr. Lee has authored recently authored the book, Sisterlocking Discoarse: Race, Gender, and the Twenty-First Century Academy (State University of New York Press, 2021).

She is married to James C. Lee, Esq., and they are the parents of four adult children.