Dr. Lynda Xepoleas
Biography
Lynda May Xepoleas, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the School of Fashion Design and Merchandising at Kent State University. Professor Xepoleas uses archival- and museum-based research methods in combination with oral history and curatorial practice to explore overlooked histories of nineteenth and twentieth century North American fashion. She is currently working on a number of projects at the intersection of fashion, history, social justice, and museum studies, including Native agency in the curation of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) fashion and textiles, localized histories of apparel production in the Western Reserve, as well as equitable approaches to fashion curation within a university setting.
Curatorial Scholarship:
Curator, Redressing Histories of Early Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih Women at Cornell, 1914-1942, Cornell University Library Online Exhibitions, December 1, 2023 – Present.
https://exhibits.library.cornell.edu/redressing-histories-of-early-haudenosaunee-women-at-cornell-1916-1945
Co-curator (with Emily Hayflick), Engaging Communities, Empowering Students: Fostering Cross-Cultural Connections through Dress, 1936-1958, Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, Ithaca, NY, October 15, 2021 –January 31, 2022. https://exhibits.library.cornell.edu/engaging-communities-empowering-students
Co-curator (with Emily Hayflick), In Search of Costumes from Many Lands: The Collecting Practices of Beulah Blackmore and Ruth Sharp, Cornell University Library Online Exhibitions, December 20, 2020 – Present. https://exhibits.library.cornell.edu/in-search-of-costumes-from-many-lands
Expertise:
History of dress and textiles, Native American fashion, social justice, museum studies, and curatorial practice
Education
M.A. in Art History, Arizona State University
B.S. in Apparel Design, Purdue University
Publications
- Du Puis, Jenny L., Rachel Getman, Denise Nicole Green, Chris Hesselbein, Victoria Pietsch, and Lynda May Xepoleas. “Curating Empowerment: Negotiating Challenges in Pedagogy, Feminism, and Activism in Fashion Exhibitions.” In Fashion Education: The Systemi
- Xepoleas, Lynda, M. “Subversive Beauty: Reassessing the Surreal in 1930s American Vogue.” Journal of Surrealism and the Americas 13, no. 2 (2022): 174-193. https://jsa-asu.org/index.php/JSA/article/view/12
- Xepoleas, Lynda M. and Emily Hayflick. “Curating Costumes from Many Lands: Addressing the Colonial Gaze in Two University Dress Collections through Digital Curation.” Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty 13, no. 1 (2022): 21-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13
- Green, Denise N., Jenny Leigh Du Puis, Lynda May Xepoleas, Victoria Pietsch, Christ Hesselbein, Rachel Getman, Kate Greder, and Jessica Estrada. “Fashion Exhibitions as Scholarship: Evaluation Criteria for Peer Review.” Clothing and Textiles Research Jour
