The American Anthropological Association’s RACE Are We So Different? exhibition has received the American Association of Museums (AAM) 2008 Award of Excellence in Exhibition. RACE Are We So Different?, an exhibition on race and human variation, was among four exhibitions chosen to receive the prestigious award on April 29th during the AAM’s annual meeting in Denver, CO. RACE Are We So Different? along with fellow awardees--"Ironclad Revolution" by the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, VA, "Dare to Resist: Jewish Defiance in Holocaust" by the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York, NY, and "Noah's Ark" by Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA--will be featured in an upcoming issue of AAM’s publication Museum News.

The Science Museum of Minnesota nominated RACE for the award.  RACE project director Mary Margaret Overbey and national advisory chair Yolanda Moses participated in the AAM Annual Meeting session recognizing the Excellence in Exhibition awardees.

Since its debut in January 2007, RACE Are We So Different? has received three national awards and one national nomination. In April, the RACE website (www.understandingRACE.org) received the Interactive Media 2007 Award for an Outstanding Achievement in Education. Also in April, the RACE website was among five nominees selected for a 2007 Webby Award in science, including the Hubble Space Station website, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NOVA Science NOW and Earth Guide.

In June 2007, AAA received the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Association’s Advance America 2007 Award of Excellence for developing the RACE Are We So Different? program. By receiving the ASAE Award of Excellence, the AAA was advanced as a nominee for the ASAE’s top honor, the 2007 Summit Award, which is bestowed annually to associations deemed to have improved the quality of American society through exemplary volunteer activities. AAA was one of six associations to receive the Summit Award in 2007.

RACE Are We So Different? is a 5,000 square-foot museum exhibit that explores the history, science and lived experience of race and racism in the United States. The RACE exhibition opens at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center in Mashantucket, CT. on May 17. The popular exhibit will be touring museums across the United States until the beginning of 2012. 

For more information about RACE Are We So Different?, click here.