design historians are the new fact checkers: parsons school of design explores how historical objects can shed light on contemporary politcal issues

Curator, Critic, and Author Glenn Adamson Teaches “Objects of Dispute,” A Two-Week Graduate Seminar for the Leading Art and Design School

The Seminar Will Look at Objects, Including a Westminster Gun and Early 19th Century Women’s Garments, that Relate to Issues Surrounding the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

Curator and author Glenn Adamson will teach "Objects of Dispute," a seminar exploring the ways in which historical American objects shed light on contemporary political issues.

NEW YORK, October 25, 2016 – The 2016 U.S. presidential race has been marred by insults, conspiracies, and outright distortions, making the issues — and the truth — difficult to decipher. We often turn to journalists, pundits, and fact checkers to make sense of the morass. But, what role might design historians play in our current political discourse?

This month, curator, critic, and author Glenn Adamson answers that question as he leads Objects of Dispute, a graduate seminar at Parsons School of Design exploring the ways in which historical American objects — a Winchester gun and early 19th century women’s garments, among others — shed light on contemporary political issues.

The seminar, which is part of the MA in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies, a program offered jointly by Parsons and Cooper Hewitt Museum, will take place Monday through Friday, October 31 to November 11 at the Cooper Hewitt.

“By some measures, American political discourse is as polarized as it has ever been: Conflict based on class, party, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, geography, and other forms of identity is increasingly overwhelming other forms of public conversation,” said Adamson, the former director of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. “We will consider the role that material culture studies may play in such an atmosphere, looking closely at objects from the American past that relate directly to contemporary political debate.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity to have Adamson teach in our graduate program,” says Sarah E. Lawrence, Dean of the School of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons. “His work in museums and in the academy has significantly shaped both curatorial practice and scholarship in design history. Adamson’s interest in revealing the contemporary resonance of historical objects is a provocation to our students to demonstrate why history matters.”

Each session of the seminar will focus on different example of American material culture that connect to issues surrounding the recent presidential campaign. The objects, and the issues to which they relate, include a Winchester rifle (colloquially known as “The Gun that Won the West”) and gun violence; objects representing abolitionist material culture and the Black Lives Matter movement; and early 19th century women’s garments and sexism.

“The focus on Hillary Clinton’s pantsuits brings up a whole debate about how women politicians should dress,” Adamson said. “That debate is related to a long history of women’s fashion, including the sense of power that is often ascribed to male suits but disconnected from women’s garments. The way Clinton’s fashion choices are discussed relates to unconscious inherited prejudices against women”

Other issues to be discussed include refugees, terrorism, corporate identity, global labor flows, and protest. For their final assignment, students will prepare a research paper on a specific “object of dispute.”

Adamson hopes that his students will come to appreciate the role design historians can play in our contentious political climate. Historical objects, he said, “can provide evidence, an anchor that helps ground you in the gigantic opinion-driven distortion field in which we’re currently mired.”

“Our goal,” he continued, “Will be to surface narratives through the study of these artifacts, and ideally, to find ways of opening up multi-textured discursive space that oppositional models do not allow.”

Parsons School of Design, founded in 1896, is one of the leading institutions for art and design education in the world. Based in New York but active around the world, the school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the full spectrum of art and design disciplines, as well as online courses, degree and certificate programs. Critical thinking and collaboration are at the heart of a Parsons education. Parsons graduates are leaders in their respective fields, with a shared commitment to creatively and critically addressing the complexities of life in the 21st century.

Founded in 1919, The New School was born out of principles of academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. Committed to social engagement, The New School today remains in the vanguard of innovation in higher education, with more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students challenging the status quo in design and the social sciences, liberal arts, management, the arts, and media. The New School welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education courses and calendar of lectures, screenings, readings, and concerts. Through its online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships, The New School maintains a global presence.

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