I am available to give beautifully illustrated slide lectures or participatory half-day seminars on a range of topics related to my writings and teaching. Here are some examples (see writings for more ideas):
The Fiber of Our Lives: Why Textiles Matter
Based on my 2011 book, Textiles: The Whole Story, this is an informative and inspirational overview about the importance of cloth in human life, covering everything from textiles and survival to social and spiritual meanings. (Lecture or half-day seminar)
Adventures With World Textiles --a longer seminar (2-5 half-days, ideally, but adaptable)
We delve into an eclectic study of world textile traditions, with the goal of discovering, appreciating, and exposing ourselves to new techniques and ideas. l provide illustrated lectures and videos on selected textile traditions (examples: Ugandan barkcloth, Kuna Indian molas, Wounaan baskets, felt in Central Asia, American Indian quill and beadwork, African wax and “fancy” prints) and students are encouraged to bring textiles they may have and to share what they know about these and other topics. Together, we can better understand the creativity and commonalities of people’s relationships with textiles, the full range of materials and approaches that textile-making may entail, and issues that threaten or enhance fiber traditions (including world markets). No experience or knowledge base is required—just interest and a sense of curiosity.
Cloth and Memory --a participatory workshop
Explore how we use textiles to keep memories alive and reasons why cloth works so well to help us do this. Participants tell their own stories about cloth and its role in helping them “hold on to” or connect with loved ones, ancestors, or special moments in their lives. (Lecture or half-day seminar)
Postmodernism and Fashion
Understand the overarching nature of fashion today—an eclectic and self-conscious pastiche of forms and fads. (Lecture)
A Fairyland of Fabrics: Victorian Crazy Quilts
Learn how crazy quilts captured the exuberant and self-consciously artistic qualities of late nineteenth century culture, using the full range of exciting new fabrics and novelties on the market. Includes stories about “crazy quilt mania.” (Lecture or half-day seminar with close examination of available quilts)
The Lives in the Object: Artistic Explorations with Natural Detritus
An artist talk about my adventures and discoveries in producing the Tierras figures and related nature collage. See how art and science come together, as close looking and working with materials like bones and horseshoe crab shells lead to an ever-deeper appreciation for the natural world. (Lecture)
The Hand of the Maker: The Importance of Understanding Textiles From the Inside Out
A talk for the knitters, quilters and others who are inexorably drawn to the making process, showing the wisdom that the making process imparts. Anyone who wants to do textile research needs the wisdom of the “making hand.”
Objects of Amusement and Comfort: Women’s ‘Toys’ and Entertainments, 1860-1940
Based on my book, The Saturated World, discover the ways that often-trivialized activities like hosting teas and entertainments, making small gifts, collecting dolls and china gave deep meaning to women’s lives. They created an aesthetically saturated world that added depth and energy to everyday experience. (Lecture)
'One of the Most Valuable Fabrics': The Seemingly Limitless Promise of Crepe Paper, 1890-1935
Learn the excitement of a new material at the end of the nineteenth century: crepe paper! It was touted as an expensive, flexible fabric with wonderful possibility, not only for temporary decorations, but as part of costume, dress, and interiors. A scholarly but lighthearted look at a fascinating historical phenomenon.
The Fiber of Our Lives: Why Textiles Matter
Based on my 2011 book, Textiles: The Whole Story, this is an informative and inspirational overview about the importance of cloth in human life, covering everything from textiles and survival to social and spiritual meanings. (Lecture or half-day seminar)
Adventures With World Textiles --a longer seminar (2-5 half-days, ideally, but adaptable)
We delve into an eclectic study of world textile traditions, with the goal of discovering, appreciating, and exposing ourselves to new techniques and ideas. l provide illustrated lectures and videos on selected textile traditions (examples: Ugandan barkcloth, Kuna Indian molas, Wounaan baskets, felt in Central Asia, American Indian quill and beadwork, African wax and “fancy” prints) and students are encouraged to bring textiles they may have and to share what they know about these and other topics. Together, we can better understand the creativity and commonalities of people’s relationships with textiles, the full range of materials and approaches that textile-making may entail, and issues that threaten or enhance fiber traditions (including world markets). No experience or knowledge base is required—just interest and a sense of curiosity.
Cloth and Memory --a participatory workshop
Explore how we use textiles to keep memories alive and reasons why cloth works so well to help us do this. Participants tell their own stories about cloth and its role in helping them “hold on to” or connect with loved ones, ancestors, or special moments in their lives. (Lecture or half-day seminar)
Postmodernism and Fashion
Understand the overarching nature of fashion today—an eclectic and self-conscious pastiche of forms and fads. (Lecture)
A Fairyland of Fabrics: Victorian Crazy Quilts
Learn how crazy quilts captured the exuberant and self-consciously artistic qualities of late nineteenth century culture, using the full range of exciting new fabrics and novelties on the market. Includes stories about “crazy quilt mania.” (Lecture or half-day seminar with close examination of available quilts)
The Lives in the Object: Artistic Explorations with Natural Detritus
An artist talk about my adventures and discoveries in producing the Tierras figures and related nature collage. See how art and science come together, as close looking and working with materials like bones and horseshoe crab shells lead to an ever-deeper appreciation for the natural world. (Lecture)
The Hand of the Maker: The Importance of Understanding Textiles From the Inside Out
A talk for the knitters, quilters and others who are inexorably drawn to the making process, showing the wisdom that the making process imparts. Anyone who wants to do textile research needs the wisdom of the “making hand.”
Objects of Amusement and Comfort: Women’s ‘Toys’ and Entertainments, 1860-1940
Based on my book, The Saturated World, discover the ways that often-trivialized activities like hosting teas and entertainments, making small gifts, collecting dolls and china gave deep meaning to women’s lives. They created an aesthetically saturated world that added depth and energy to everyday experience. (Lecture)
'One of the Most Valuable Fabrics': The Seemingly Limitless Promise of Crepe Paper, 1890-1935
Learn the excitement of a new material at the end of the nineteenth century: crepe paper! It was touted as an expensive, flexible fabric with wonderful possibility, not only for temporary decorations, but as part of costume, dress, and interiors. A scholarly but lighthearted look at a fascinating historical phenomenon.
