James Count Early

James Count Early is a distinguished cultural heritage leader and scholar, serving as Director of Cultural Heritage Policies at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, United States. With a career spanning over four decades at the Smithsonian, he has held key leadership roles including assistant provost, assistant secretary for education and public service, and interim director of the Anacostia Community Museum. A respected voice in heritage studies, he delivered a keynote at the 2016 ACHS conference on critical heritage, equity, and social change.

• Education: B.A. in Spanish, Morehouse College; Graduate work (ABD), Howard University
• Leadership: Director, Cultural Heritage Policies; former Assistant Provost and Assistant Secretary at Smithsonian
• Keynote speaker and panelist at international heritage forums

James Count Early’s research centers on participatory museology, cultural democracy, and the politics of heritage, with a focus on African diaspora and Afro-Latin cultural expressions. He advocates for equity and inclusion in cultural institutions and has curated major programs such as South Africa: Crafting the Economic Renaissance of the Rainbow Nation (1999) and Sacred Sounds: Belief and Society (1997). His work bridges policy, public engagement, and community-based heritage practices, emphasizing the role of heritage professionals in social transformation.

His recent engagements include participation in critical heritage dialogues on renaming, removal, and recontextualization of heritage, as well as discussions on Canada’s potential ratification of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. These contributions highlight his ongoing influence in shaping global heritage discourse.

• Advocate for cultural diversity and equity
• Expert in capitalist and socialist discourses in cultural policy
• Active in international heritage policy debates

Prof. Early has mentored and influenced numerous practitioners in the field, though specific students are not listed. His leadership in major Smithsonian initiatives underscores his role in advancing public understanding of cultural heritage. He is associated with no formal grants in the text, but his curatorial and policy work implies substantial project leadership and funding oversight. He is not mentioned as leading a specific lab or research team, but his directorship places him at the helm of national and international heritage policy development.