Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand how museums can be used as a means of promoting social awareness through the work of African American photographer Hank Willis Thomas. Through the use of surveys administered to museum patrons and an in-depth interview with the curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, this study intends to uncover the ways in which Americans understand issues surrounding race and ethnicity in America. By studying the ways in which people understand his series Unbranded: Reflections in Black Corporate America, 1968-2008, we can better understand how Americans tend to think, or not think about race in America. The museum space then becomes a platform in which people can talk about controversial topics.

Advisor

Gunn, Raymond

Department

Sociology and Anthropology

Disciplines

Social and Cultural Anthropology

Keywords

Hank Willis Thomas, museum studies, museum anthropology, race and ethnicity

Publication Date

2014

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2014 Olivia Gregory