Course Explores Famous Designers in Contexts of Their Times

MELBOURNE, Fla. — “Critical Approaches: 20th Century Costume History,” a fall Florida Tech seminar course, is open to the community. The special topics
course will examine 20th Century European and American fashion as art and interpret costume as it relates to important artistic movements.
The course will combine lectures, visual presentations, and visits to galleries and collections to study such famous designers as Chanel and Dior. Course
participants will view designers within the contexts of cubism, World War II and the women’s movement.
Instructor Cressie Murphy-David has a bachelor of fine arts degree from the New School of Social Research in New York City, a certificate in fashion design
from Parsons School of Design and a master’s degree in costume studies from New York University. She was an intern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s
Costume Institute for two years and has taught in the textile department at the University of Rhode Island. Murphy-David has also been curator for the
Historical Society of Rockland County, N.Y.
The course meets Mondays and Wednesdays, from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m., starting Aug. 20, on campus. Classes will be held in the Crawford Building, Room 610. The
audit tuition rate is $300. To register, call the Department of Humanities and Communication at (321) 674-8082.