PLDS 4078 Senior Seminar: Crafting Tradition: Textiles in a Changing World

This class will investigate the negotiations made to bring traditional textile objects and techniques from varying cultures to the contemporary market. In each class, we will examine a traditional, indigenous textile object and technique in terms of production, formal qualities, and cultural context. We will also investigate the work of a contemporary organization or company working to preserve, and in some cases, revive, that particular object or technique. Using this case-studyapproach, different strategies for promoting indigenous textile crafts will be examined, including artisan-run cooperatives, micro-lending situations, fair trade businesses, and other sustainable business models. Each strategy will be analyzed in regards to its “success” in promoting prosperity for the artisans, as well as for its impact on the techniques, skills, and/or visual traditions it seeks to preserve. Students will gain a deeper knowledge of world textile history, and simultaneously delve into issues surrounding cultural preservation, global politics, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable design. We will uncover some of the many complexities that arise alongside the shift to consumption of artisan-produced goods in a globalized society.