Rebecca M. Brown

Rebecca M. Brown is a Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of the History of Art at Johns Hopkins University, part of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. She holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota and specializes in South Asian and diasporic visual culture, focusing on modernism, colonialism, and the interplay between space and temporality. Her work examines urban spaces, architecture, and visual practices from the late 18th century to the present, with recent research on K.C.S. Paniker’s art and postcolonial linguistic landscapes.

Education: PhD in South Asian and Islamic Art History (University of Minnesota), BA in History of Art (Pomona College). Teaching experience includes roles at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Swansea University, Georgetown University, and George Washington University. She chairs the Advanced Academic Programs in Museum Studies and Cultural Heritage Management at JHU and has curated exhibitions for institutions like the Peabody Essex Museum and the Walters Art Museum.

Research interests span colonial and postcolonial visual culture, including photography, painting, film, and museum studies. Her scholarship critiques Eurocentric modernism, emphasizing decolonial frameworks and the materiality of art. Recent publications explore themes such as documentary photography, neo-tantrism, and the intersections of spirituality and modern art.

Professional roles include serving as a consultant for the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation and presenting at venues like the Clark Art Institute and National Museum of Korea. She advocates for innovative pedagogy in art history surveys and interdisciplinary approaches to gender studies, postcolonial theory, and film studies.