The Center for Design and Material Culture offers a number of resources to support instructors. Supported by our pillars in the study of textiles, material culture, and design, the center supports exhibitions in our two galleries, course engagements, public lectures and workshops, research projects, and more. Many of these resources can be accessed online, while a number involve visiting the center in person.
Explore the hands-on and virtual resources we have available below and reach out to us with questions.
Pathways: A Toolkit for Educators, Designers, Researchers, and Consumers on Understanding Design Sovereignty and Cultural Appropriation
For more than 50 years, the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection (HLATC) has been a destination for those passionate about global textile traditions. In the 2018-2019 academic year, the Center began developing a workshop aimed at understanding design sovereignty and avoiding cultural appropriation, and empowering participants to engage with diverse cultural materials more thoughtfully.
Our Pathways workshop offers collection-based case studies in which participants practice engaging with the three key themes: ownership, power, and impact. As visitors look to our collection for inspiration, we want to facilitate meaningful, respectful, and transparent interactions with the objects we care for and the cultures and communities from which they originate.
Request a Collection Visit
The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is a global, teaching collection with more than 13,000 objects. Many courses taught at UW–Madison visit the collection over the course of a semester to study objects relevant to a specific unit or topic. Request a visit and begin a conversation with collection staff about your course and what you hope your visit may accomplish.
Create a Collection-Intensive Course
We offer deeper collection engagement opportunities through our Collection-Intensive Course program. In partnership with university faculty and instructors, we support courses centered around objects from the collection, using them as a “material textbook” that guides class discussions and projects.
Dr. Sophie Pitman
Pleasant Rowland
Textile Specialist
& Research Director
spitman@wisc.edu
608-262-3623
Exhibitions On View
We welcome thousands of visitors each year to the Ruth Davis Design Gallery and Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery. Both galleries have rotating exhibitions throughout the academic year that offer many course connections. We also occasionally curate displays throughout Nancy Nicholas Hall! Check out our exhibition calendar to see what's on view.
Request a Galleries Tour
Classes from all over campus have found ways to experience our galleries in connection with their coursework. Whether it be an opportunity to explore a class theme visually, practice language skills or consider a perspective not addressed in textbooks, there are endless possibilities for curricular connections. Bring your class for a tour or create an exhibit-specific class assignment.
Events Calendar
Through the center and in partnership with many collaborators, we offer lectures, workshops, symposia, and other events and programs. These are offered in conjunction with our exhibitions or other research projects throughout the year. Watch our events calendar or sign-up for our newsletter to stay connected.
Watch a Recorded Lecture
The center regularly hosts public lectures on campus and virtually for students, faculty, staff, scholars, and community members. The dates and times for these lectures vary, but many of them are recorded and published on the center's Kaltura Channel to be used long after the event. Instructors are welcome to use these however they might fit within their coursework.
Listen to Radio Chipstone
Radio Chipstone is a material culture radio show hosted by Gianofer Fields in collaboration with the Center for Design and Material Culture and the Chipstone Foundation, a decorative arts organization whose mission is preserving and interpreting their collection and stimulating research and education in the decorative arts.
Stream the Refrangible Podcast
Hosted by Gianofer Fields, "Refrangible: A Podcast from the Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison," is a headfirst dive into stories about the things we make, use, save and carry, and what it tells us about our world. Listen to all three seasons here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
