Anthropology of Clothing and Fashion

3 units

This course takes clothing as a starting point for examining broad themes in anthropology, including gender and sexuality, race and the body, history and colonialism. We look at the ritual significance of clothing and other practices of bodily adornment in traditional societies and the role of style in constituting contemporary social movements and identity categories. We investigate the globalization of the apparel industry, from production and circulation to marketing and branding, in order to understand the relationship between citizenship and consumption, labor and power in the global economy. The course encourages students to reflect on their relationship to the wider society and economy as producers and consumers of material culture through the lens of clothing and fashion.