ABSTRACT
The Black Lives Matter movement challenges predominantly white institutions to decolonize their curricula and embrace antiracist practices. At the same time, the traditional Eurocentric pedagogy of fashion history is rapidly losing appeal. Fashion Forward: A History of Dress in Global Context reinvents the traditional fashion history format by viewing dress through the lens of social justice. This reframing not only updates the curriculum to meet the cultural moment but also exposes students to a wide array of previously underrepresented contributors to the history of fashionable dress and reveals the multitude of interdisciplinary opportunities the study of dress history offers. Focusing on issues of power and identity as drivers of the fashion impulse, by investigating people and communities and beauty standards long considered outside Eurocentric “mainstream” fashion, and by juxtaposing fashions of the global majority against those of Europe, this course seeks to recast the study of fashion history as an exploration of humanity. In so doing, the course introduces students to new ways of thinking about themselves, their fellow human beings, and their responsibilities as admirers and creators of fashion. Beyond deepening students’ understanding of history, studying fashion in a social justice context serves the mission of a Jesuit education: fostering empathy, ethical values, and a sense of social responsibility and helping students become more conscious, compassionate, and thoughtful consumers and citizens.
