ABSTRACT
I created and taught the class Dress and Fashion: Global History and Impact for my institution’s undergraduate general education program. Though housed within the theatre discipline, the course needed to be broad enough to attract a wider university student audience. Two major elements that I used as the framework for the course were the two general education interdisciplinary minors under which the course was listed: Global Diversity and Social Justice and Environmental Sustainability. This meant that issues such as global connections; the interplay between dress practices and systems of privilege/oppression; the environmental impact of the textile industry; and contemporary practices of creating, distributing, and disposing of items of dress had to be explicitly addressed in the class. This meant that instead of following a timeline, I would do better to structure my course around guideposts that were more conceptual in nature. They provided me with an opportunity to continually illustrate that dress, fashion, clothing, and the way we treat our bodies visually are all part of how we see ourselves as individuals, as well as members of social and cultural groups.
