The Costumes & Customs Lecture Series, sponsored by the Office of Arts Integration and organized in collaboration with the University Library, the Department of Theatre, the Department of Classics, the Spurlock Museum, and the Krannert Art Museum, explores the history and cultural significance of clothing across time and place. Organized by Elias Petrou (University Library) and Olga Maslova (Department of Theatre), the series will feature four distinguished speakers: Dr. Bernice Jones - Minoan Era (Wednesday, September 17, 5:00 p.m. CT), Dr. Ulla Mannering - Viking Age (Thursday, October 23, 5:00 p.m. CT), Dr. Susan Whitfield - Middle Ages (Wednesday, November 5, 5:00 p.m. CT), and Dr. Jenny Tiramani - Elizabethan Era (Friday, December 5, 12:00 p.m. CT). All lectures will be held via Zoom and are free and open to the public: https://go.library.illinois.edu/costumes
Susan Whitfield is a scholar, traveler and writer of the Silk Roads. Currently Professor of Silk Road Studies at the Sainsbury Institute of the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC) at the University of East Anglia, where she is leading the Nara to Norwich Project. She previously worked at the British Library curating manuscripts and other artifacts from central Asia and directing the International Dunhuang Project.
Her many books and articles include The Silk Road: Silk, Slaves and Stupas and an essay on Silk Road dress for the Cambridge Global History of Fashion.