Speech to discuss roles of textiles Beverly Gordon will deliver a lecture, “The Fiber of Our Lives: Why Textiles Matter,” at 9 a.m. March 5 in the Home Economics auditorium. Her slide lecture examines the roles and meanings that textiles play in human life around the world. Her talk is free and open to the public. Support for her lecture and fellowship is provided by Othmer enhancement funds. Gordon is the 2004 visiting faculty fellow at the International Quilt Study Center and is returning to UNL to continue her research exploring “fairyland” imagery in turn-of-the-century quilts. Her research will result in an essay planned for a future publication by the International Quilt Study Center titled “American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940.” Gordon is professor of environment, textiles and design and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on the meanings of objects in people’s lives, especially small objects made and used in the domestic sphere; on “background history;” and on messages/meanings communicated in dress, craft and ritual objects.
