TCD Announces First China Study Tour May 15 - 27, 2010

03 Sep 2009    

From May 15 –27, 2010, TCD students and faculty will travel to Shanghai, China and surrounding textile centers for the first TCD China Study Tour, part of the department’s series of annual study tours that also include on a rotating basis New York City, Paris, Prague, London and other European textile and apparel centers. Asia is now added to this rotation, and China its first destination.  

China is one of the world’s major social, political and economic forces, and its stunning rise as a manufacturing powerhouse has captured global notice. China’s ancient history and its rich and varied cultures offer intriguing counterpoints to its rapid industrial growth, and this study tour will provide insights into each of these dimensions of contemporary China. From Shanghai’s fast-paced and dense metropolitan mass to the history-laden gardens of ancient canal towns, our itinerary will encompass the old and the new, the past and the present, the rare and the everyday, and will offer study tour participants a close look at textiles and apparel spanning centuries.

 2007 Student Apparel Design Exhibition at Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China

Each day of our study tour will offer lenses onto textile and apparel history and textile and apparel design, production and retailing today. We’ll look at the historical and contemporary Chinese arts that have influenced China’s textile and apparel designers, including bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy and a wide range of costume from China’s diverse ethnic populations. We’ll see silk production at its source and we’ll visit silk markets and museums that document its long and vivid history. Along the way we’ll see futurist urban landscapes, great architecture of the past as well as the present, quiet garden sanctuaries and bustling shikumen neighborhoods (stone gate houses) in the shadows of modern high rises, and we'll encounter the latest cutting-edge trends both in upscale designer boutiques and in the pavilions of Expo 2010.

 Jiangnan University campus, Wuxi, China

Our host universities, Donghua University in Shanghai and Jiangnan University in Wuxi (pronounced ‘woo-shee’) will serve as bases during the 12 day trip. The estimated price of $2800-$2900 includes roundtrip airfare from Lincoln, hotel accommodations (double occupancy) with breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, excursions and field trips, English-speaking local guides, selected admissions  and insurance. Additional tuition and fees for 2 credit hours through UNL Summer Sessions will be approximately $375.

Ancient canal, Suzhou, China 

The tour will be led by Professors Yiqi Yang, Barbara Trout and Michael James. Dr. Yang and Dept. Chair Michael James will speak to Dr. Trout’s History of Costume class about the trip on Friday September 11 at 11 a.m., and to MONTAGE members onWednesday October 7 at 8:15 p.m. in city campus Union.  An open informational session and Q&A about the trip will be hosted by Dr. Yang and Michael James in the TCD conference room HSB 228.1 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday September 29. 

 Suzhou Art Museum designed by I. M. Pei