The project began in 2008-2009 under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum), the African Studies Center, with the support of the provost’s office and a planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Expert consultants in history, art history, anthropology, classics, folklore, public health, psychiatry, genetics and other medical researchers formulated the central themes and selected key objects for the exhibition from the Museum’s collections, along with complementary contemporary paintings and other supporting materials.
Curators
- Dr. Lee Cassanelli
- Dr. John Janzen
Project Director
UPenn Project Advisors
- Dr. Ali B. Ali-Dinar
- Dr. Sandra Barnes
- Dr. Steven Feierman
- Ms. Dwaune Latimer
- Dr. Audrey Mbeje
- Dr. Klare Scarborough
- Dr. Tukufu Zuberi
- Dr. Harvey Friedmann
- Dr. Neal Nathanson
- Dr. Sarah Tishkoff
Outside Project Consultants
- Dr. Mary Jo Arnoldi, Smithsonian
- Dr. Kathy Curnow, Cleveland State
- Dr. Kalala J. Ngalamulume, Bryn Mawr
- Dr. Wyatt MacGaffey, Haverford Emeritus
- Dr. Rudolph Mojalemotho, Botswana National Museum
- Dr. Mary (“Polly”) Nooter Roberts, UCLA
- Dr. Allen F. Roberts, UCLA
- Dr. Phillip Segadika, Botswana National Museum
- Dr. P. Stanley Yoder, Maryland
- Ms. Minda Borun, Franklin Institute Science Museum
Exhibit Design
- Charles Regier, Kauffman Museum