Psychology of Clothes:  Motivations for Dressing-up and Dressing-down

Professor Bobbi Owen                            Office:  213 Center for Dramatic Art; owenbob@unc.edu                                        

Office Hours:  12:00-2:00 Mondays, or by appointment

Honors 6K website:  http://www.unc.edu/courses/2003spring/hnrs/006k/001/Hnrs6KSyllabus.htm

This course seeks to help students articulate their own motivations for dress and then apply the ideas they discover to the ways in which individuality as well as group attitudes are expressed through clothing.  The class will utilize both traditional and innovative instructional methods, meeting in the classroom as well as “on location” wherever clothing is worn throughout the community!  Students will discuss readings from basic texts to create a shared vocabulary.  Common (and occasionally uncommon) motivations for dress, not only in our own culture but in others in the world today as well as during selected historical periods, will be covered.  Working in pairs or small groups, students will make class presentations, perhaps through websites or photographic displays,  to share findings about the visual messages conveyed by clothing.  A ten page seminar paper presented both orally and in writing will be the culmination of the term.

Course schedule:

January	7	Course introduction
	9	Motivations for Dress
	14	Clothing as a Sign System	Lurie Chapter 1, pages 3-36
	16	First Ackland Visit
	21	About the exhibit – choices and expectations
		Assemble groups for projects
	23	Fashion and Place	Lurie, chapter 4, pages 84-114
		On location:  the Pit
	28	Location reports
		About the exhibit – choices to make, captions to write
	30	Ideals of Beauty; fashion versus un-fashion
Febuary	4	Youth and Age	Lurie, chapter 2, pages 37-59
		Walk about:  Franklin Street
	6	Group project topics due/discussion
	11	Mid-term exam #1
	13	Male and Female	Lurie, chapter 8, pages 212-229
	18	Fashion and sex	Lurie, chapter 9, pages 230-261
	20	Carolina students versus Duke students
		On Location:  Duke University Student Union
	25	Preliminary reports:  group projects
	27	Preliminary reports continued
March	4	Color	Lurie chapter 7, pates 182-211
	6	Images of Beauty, historical dress	Lurie, chapter 3, pages 60-83
		Fashion and Time
	Spring Break
	18	Images of Beauty, Modern times
		Images of Beauty, non-western cultures
	25	Preliminary reports:  seminar papers
	27	Preliminary reports continued
April	1	Mid-term exam #2
	3	Clothing and self identity
	8	Non-conformists and clothing
	10	Un-fashion
	15	Fashion and status	Lurie, chapter 5, pages 115-153
	17	Fashion and Opinion	Lurie, chapter 6, pages 154-182
		On location:  Kenan-Flagler Business School
	22	Final reports:  Group reports
	24	Final reports:  seminar papers

Text:   

Mid Term -April 1, 2003	20%
Group oral report / preliminary design	5%
Group oral report / final design	10%
Individual Seminar Paper	20%
Class project: Ackland Exhibit, including captions	10%
Class participation	10%
Final Exam - Thursday, May 8, 2003 2:00 PM	25%

Group projects/design/oral report/seminar paper:

Together the class will mount an exhibit about the psychology of dress at the Ackland Museum, and then working in pairs or small groups, students will continue to explore the themes in the exhibit.  Members of the groups will make class presentations, perhaps through websites or photographic displays, to share in-depth findings about the visual messages conveyed by clothing.  These visual essays will be comparative, examining the differences between a Carolina student in 1800, 1900 or 2000 or a typical Carolina professor in those same eras.   They could examine the clash of cultures:  traditional Muslim dress in the modern world, the kameez-sirwahl preferred by young Hindu women over the sari, the traditional head cloths worn by those of Bedouin ancestry including Yassir Arafat, or that worn by Sikhs. Individual seminar papers will further focus on a specific aspect of the Ackland Exhibit through the group projects, but the text will use the illustrations as supplemental rather than as the primary focus.  For example, discussing a specific aspect of Carolina student attire in 1900 might focus on the clothing worn by women or athletes participating in a particular sport; they cannot attempt to cover the entire range of clothing worn.  Late papers will be penalized by losing one letter grade per day if submitted after 4:30 PM on the due date.  Once completed, these seminar papers will be posted in the Ackland Gallery within the class exhibit.  The Internet is an increasingly popular source, but most of the material available about traditional clothing is on pages maintained as a hobby.  Look for research libaries and museums as you use the Internet and be prepared to explain why you chose a particular site.  Sites labeled “com” are rarely acceptable’ those labeled “edu” or “gor” or “org” are generally more reliable.  Electronic databases and resources are acceptable, as are museum and related sites, including those listed on the resource database prepared by Cindy Adams, reference librarian at Davis Library at UNC-CH.  Link: <www.lib.unc.edu/reference/instruction/costume.html>  To cite illustrations available for viewing/downloading via the World Wide Web by means of Google, Netscape, or other Web browsers, provide the following information:

The date of visit is included because internet sites change so frequently.  It may be advisable to print a copy as documentation.  Example:  Kyoto National Museum.  "Kosode with Pine Bark, Diamond, and Small Flowers [sic] Patterns.”  1997.  < http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/meihin/senshoku/mh93e.htm> (3 January 2003)