Justin M. Brown specializes in the arts of the African Diaspora, with a focus on the Caribbean from slavery to the present. His interdisciplinary scholarship covers diverse topics, including the visual and material culture of slavery, the art of the Suriname Maroons, and Atlantic water spirits. He has held curatorial and research positions at the National Gallery of Art, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Worcester Art Museum. His research has been supported by the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the MacMillan Center at Yale University, and the Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration at Yale.
His current project, The Cosmic Calabash, examines carved calabashes created by enslaved people of African descent in 19th-century Suriname. Using these objects as historical sources, he shows that they provide direct insights into the ways that enslaved people viewed the world around them. His ongoing projects explore the concept of creolization, funerary arts in the African Atlantic world, and Afro-Caribbean ritual objects.
Professor Brown grew up in a multigenerational home in Providence, Rhode Island. His family history includes immigrants to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic and Cape Verde, Black Canadians, and southern Black migrants. A first-generation college graduate, he holds a Ph.D. in the History of Art from Yale University. He looks forward to working with students from all disciplinary backgrounds.
