Educator

Whether in the studio, laboratory, or classroom, my approach to teaching merges practice and theory.

Curriculum Development
I have had the opportunity to develop and refine curriculum for many graduate programs.

• In 2012 I was tasked by Parsons The New School to develop a core class titled "Materiality of Fashion" for their MA Fashion Studies program that addressed the program's lack of object-based pedagogy. Utilizing the Parsons Fashion Study Collection and my own archive of historic textiles and garments, I taught students how to read objects from the fiber to finished garment, and then contextualize this technical knowledge within a sociocultural and historical framework. Although I stopped teaching the course to focus on my own PhD work, I continue to provide guidance and resources for its instructors.

• I co-taught and redeveloped a fashion archiving/collections management class at the Fashion Institute of Technology MA Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, and Practice program. This course is one of the banner offerings of the program and has long been led by Valerie Soll. My contributions to the course were the addition of an Oddy testing (artificial aging) lab component and a refinement of the custom storage housing assignment.  

• I have been an annually invited guest lecturer on specific topics at various universities. These include:

  • "Independent Fashion Curation," MA Costume Studies, New York University 

  • “Materiality of Sustainable Fashion,” MA Fashion Studies, Parsons New School

  • “Wearable Technologies and The History of Fashion and Technology,” Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), New York University 

  • "Active Matter: Fashion Conservation," Cultures of Conservation Wandering Seminar, Bard Graduate Center

  • "Technical Analysis of Fibers," MS in the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, New York University, The Institute of Fine Arts

  • "The Future of Fashion and Textile Conservation," School of Human Ecology, University of Texas at Austin

Thesis and Dissertation Advisement
I have had the good fortune of supervising students whose research focuses on topics of conservation, preservation, sustainability, and historiography.  

• Christian Hernandez, MA Thesis: "The Green Challenge: Incorporating Sustainable Practices and Materials into Collections Care." MA Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice, Fashion Institute of Technology, 2013

• Marina Hays, MA Thesis: "Courting Stability: Conservation of an Eighteenth Century Robe à la Française." MA Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice. Fashion Institute of Technology, 2018

• Stephanie Ovide, PhD Dissertation: “Conservation-restauration de la mode au XXIème siècle, histoire et amélioration des méthodes: études et mise en lumière des collections de la maison Balenciaga.” Université de Cergy-Pontoise, beginning 2019.

• Marissa Stevenson, MA Thesis: “Jacques Doucet and the Libbey Dolls: History and Conservation Treatment of the Libbey Doll Collection.” MA Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice. Fashion Institute of Technology, 2019.

Fellow and Intern Mentoring
I regularly mentor and supervise fellows and interns, with the ultimate goal that all of them learn core skills, attain an enriched understanding of the complexity and nuance of conservation, expand their network, and add exciting and rigorous projects to their portfolio. I take high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and strive to create an inclusive and welcoming learning environment.