- Sponsor
- Office of Arts Integration In collaboration with University Library, Department of Theatre, Department of Classics, Spurlock Museum and Krannert Museum of Art
- Speaker
- Jody Benjamin
- Contact
- Elias Petrou
- epetrou@illinois.edu
- Views
- 3
- Originating Calendar
- Library Calendar
The Costumes & Customs Lecture Series, sponsored by the Office of Arts Integration and organized in collaboration with the University Library, the Department of Theatre, the Department of Classics, the Spurlock Museum, and the Krannert Art Museum, explores the history and cultural significance of clothing across time and place. Organized by Elias Petrou (University Library) and Olga Maslova (Department of Theatre). All lectures will be held via Zoom and are free and open to the public.
This talk examines how historians can center African perspectives beyond the colonial archive and how dress reveals social and economic change in West Africa. Drawing on The Texture of Change, it shows how textile trade connected West Africa to global networks across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Jody Benjamin is a social and cultural historian of West Africa (1650–1850) and author of The Texture of Change (2024), a finalist for the African Studies Association’s 2025 Best Book Award. He has led major research initiatives such as the Mellon Sawyer Seminar “Unarchiving Blackness,” received support from NEH and other institutions, and earned his PhD from Harvard University in 2016.