Research/Areas of Interest:
Historic, Modern, and Contemporary American art; African-American visual culture, artistic practices, and visual expressive traditions; Visual literacy; Anti-Racist Approaches to Museum and Curatorial Practice
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst Center, United States, 2017
- Master of Arts, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst Center, United States, 2013
- Bachelor of Arts, Wayne State University, Detroit, United States, 2007
Biography
Dr. Kelli Morgan is a Professor of the Practice and the inaugural Director of Curatorial Studies at Tufts University. A curator, educator, and social justice activist who specializes in American art and visual culture, her scholarly commitment to the investigation of anti-blackness within those fields has demonstrated how traditional art history and museum practice work specifically to uphold white supremacy.
Dr. Morgan has held curatorial positions at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Before joining the Tufts faculty, she held various teaching positions where she merged the classroom and the museum gallery to create anti-racist paradigms for how curators can actively address the complexities of traditional art history, community engagement, and scholarly innovation.