In Consequential Museum Spaces, Professor Bettina Carbonell examines how African American history and culture is—and historically has been—represented in culturally specific and mainstream museums. Carbonell argues that African American museums provide a corrective history that is both argumentative and pragmatic: these museums educate and enlighten, and they seek to effect change. Her examples include a selection of regional African American museums—their buildings, framing devices, exhibitions, strategies of display, major themes, and relationships with the public.

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Bettina Messias Carbonell is an associate professor of English at John Jay College, where she designs and teaches topics-based courses on literature, ethics, and human rights; she also teaches in the College’s Humanities and Justice Major where students approach justice-related issues from the perspectives of three disciplines: History, Literature, and Philosophy. Her publications include Museum Studies: An Anthology of Contexts (2004), review essays on the exhibition of African American history and culture in museums, and a critical analysis of ethical inquiry in the work of Charles Chesnutt.