Dr. Yanique Hume is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus specializing in Caribbean cultural thought and the religious and performance cultures of the African diaspora. She conducts interdisciplinary research in the humanities and creative arts, utilizing cultural anthropology, cultural studies, comparative religion, performance studies, and critical dance practice. Dr. Hume has worked with companies across the Caribbean exploring a range of ritual and modern dance idioms. She is also a member of the dance-scholar collective, “Afro-Feminist Performance Routes.” Dr. Hume is the co-editor of Caribbean Cultural Thought: From Plantation Diaspora (2013); Caribbean Popular Culture: Power, Politics and Performance (2016); and Passages and Afterworlds: Anthropological Perspectives on Death in the Caribbean (2018). Her current book project, "Ecstatic Play: Transcending Spirit in the Traditions of the Wake," engages in a comparative investigation of the aesthetic and performative dimensions of Black Atlantic mortuary customs as it explores the work of play in sustaining black lives. She is the recipient of grants from esteemed institutions such as the Social Science Research Council, the International Development Research Centre, Ford Foundation, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.
