I am seeking two other panelists and a chair for the June 1-4, 2017 Berkshires Conference on Women’s History at Hofstra University. This panel will consider how various forms of imagery (photography, painting, drawing, film, etc) have modified and created new understandings of women. As part of a larger project on the history of purses in American women’s lives, my paper will examine studio portraits of women, exploring the performative role purses played in shaping the identities of their holders. Considering the connections between purses, female agency, and respectability, my paper will use digitized photographs to examine how women of a variety ages, classes, regions, and races used purses to fashion, express and, indeed, create themselves as “ladies” between 1890 and 1940. Other panelists could address how women have been imaged in any time period or place but 19th and 20th century studies are especially encouraged. Papers might focus on commercial or artistic images of women, their creators, and/or intended audiences from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (history, art history, gender and sexuality studies, media studies, etc).

Format: Traditional Panel, Track 12: Performance Studies and Visual Culture

Please email Kathleen Casey at kcasey@vwc.edu with a short description of your proposed project (or interest in chairing) and a 1 page CV ASAP and no later than Dec 20th. Full panel proposals with 250 word paper and panel abstracts are due by January 15th.