Lecture Series

Throughout each year, the Center for Design and Material Culture hosts a number of lectures, workshops, panel discussions, and symposia. Through these public engagements, we elevate the study of our three pillars; textiles, design, and material culture. All of these programs are free and many are open to the public. Annually, we present a multiple lecture series which include collaborations with the Design Studies Department.

Below are details on these lecture series as well as avenues to explore all of our recorded presentations.

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Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture Series
Design Lecture Series
Equity & Justice Network Design Series
All Lecture Recordings

Ruth Ketterer Harris Lecture Series

Since 1990, the Ruth Ketterer Lecture Series has featured a diverse range of specialists with broad public appeal including textile historians, contemporary artists, museum curators, scholars, and collectors―all of whom have contributed to an enhanced understanding and appreciation of textiles. This lecture series is presented annually and hosted through the center’s Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection.

Series History

Mending in the Museum: The Professionalization of Textile Conservation

Art conservation is a young profession, and the discipline of textile conservation is even younger, beginning in the middle of the 20th century. This lecture, presented by Sarah Scaturro, Eric and Jane Nord Chief Conservator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, discusses the emergence of textile conservation as a profession with its own set of ethical issues, scientific techniques, and artistic practices.

Shoe Obsessed: Power, Identity, and the Manufacturing of Desire

Fashion is anything but frivolous. This talk, presented by Elizabeth Semmelhack, Director and Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum, explores the economic and social implications of footwear and how mass production, market fragmentation and the commodification of identities has made Western culture “shoe obsessed.”

A Conversation with Bisa Butler

Bisa Butler, acclaimed interdisciplinary textile artist, discusses her work and hosts a conversation with the center Producer-in-Residence, Gianofer Fields on her practice, teaching, and presenting her first solo museum exhibition at the Art Insittute of Chicago.

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Design Lecture Series

The Design Lecture Series is an annual program offered through the Design Studies Department in co-sponsorship with the Center for Design and Material Culture. Twice each semester, a scholar and/or maker is invited to campus to present a public lecture. In conjunction with their lecture, they visit classes within the Design Studies Department, meet with faculty and students, and even host workshops for students connected to their practice. Below are recordings of public lectures presented through this series collaboration.

Understandable Design and Perfect Imperfections with William Kroll of Tender Co.

William Kroll is a multi-disciplinary designer whose brand Tender has been produced in Britain and retailed worldwide since 2010. Through Tender he investigates historical making techniques and problem solving design for a contemporary fashion audience.

Design in Mind: Creating Neuro-Inclusive Spaces for Mental Health & Well-Being

How can the built environment better support the diverse ways people think, feel, and experience the world? In this lecture, Dr. Kati Peditto, a Senior Design Researcher at DLR Group, explores evidence-based design strategies for neurodivergent individuals across healthcare, education, and work environments.

Breaking the Boundaries of Felt

Janice Arnold has been redefining the boundaries of handmade Felt for over 25 years. Her work is a confluence of ancient and modern methods using traditional and unexpected materials. In this presentation, she will share peeks into inspirations and processes for Woolen Clouds, Homage to the Forests, and other large-scale works.

Weaving and Counterfactual Narratives of Technical Progress

Counterfactual thinking is a form of asking “what if” questions that consider how the present would have unfolded had historical events had different outcomes. In this talk, Laura Devendorf draws from her research as an artist/computer-scientist and design researcher to present a counterfactual narrative of technical progress rooted in her deep fascination and immersion into the world of complex weaving (the practice of creating complex 3D, electronic and/or robotic structures).

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Equity & Justice Network Design Series

In the 2021-22 academic year, the center partnered with the Equity & Justice Network Task Force within the Design Studies Department to host a cross-departmental Equity & Justice Speakers Series in Design. This series aimed to highlight professionals that advocate for underrepresented groups, design excellence and innovation in all fields, design approaches that emphasize the importance of empathy and community engagement, interdisciplinary approaches that allow for a more inclusive and diverse approach to design, and other topics such as designing for justice that focus on the world changing possibilities of design education.

Visible/Invisible: Designing Afro-Futures

D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem presents on her multi-hyphenate practice as an award-winning, self-described “space sculptor”, designer, writer, performance artist, and educator whose practice and scholarship bridge disciplines of design, ritual and ecology. This lecture highlights Duyst-Akpem’s ongoing engagement with site, body, visibility, and identity via audience-interactive performances; through design for healing and protection; and in mobilizing radical pedagogical approaches to creating new futures of equity and possibility.

Designers are Critical to Equity & Inclusion

Design is a social art. Designers create the environments for human life – from our physical spaces to the products we depend upon to the information that permeates our lives. It’s a powerful role but requires an active choice to use that power towards justice, equity and inclusion. In this lecture, Valerie Fletcher shares her perspective, methods and global examples to build awareness and appetite to make a difference through inclusive design.

Crafting New Futures Using “Ideas Arrangements Effects”

The Studio proposes that we can redesign systems if we follow a simple premise: “Ideas are embedded in social arrangements, which in turn produce effects.” They offer arrangements as a rich and overlooked terrain for social justice and world building. In this Interactive talk, Kenneth Bailey will share a range of examples from their design practice.

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Watch all center recorded lectures, panels, and symposia through our Kaltura Channel:

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