UA Brown Bag Lecture Series Focuses on Embroideries from China

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Women’s Resource Center and the department of women’s studies will present their Brown Bag Series on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 12:30 p.m. in 308 Manly Hall.

Dr. Catherine Pagani, a professor of Asian art history and chair of the UA department of art, will lead an hour-long workshop on “In Blue and White: Folk Embroideries of Rural Sichuan, China.” During her presentation, Pagani will discuss the distinctive blue and white embroideries of the rural southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan and offer a look into the lives of non-elite rural women.

Pagani received her doctorate from the department of East Asian studies at the University of Toronto and has published and lectured widely on the arts of Asia, including rural Chinese embroidered textiles. Her most recent book, “Eastern Magnificence and European Ingenuity: Clocks of Late Imperial China,” is the result of research conducted at the Palace Museum, Beijing, where she was the first Westerner given research access to the large collection of 18th-century elaborate clockwork.

Each month, the Women’s Resource Center will sponsor a speaker, film or other activity that is relevant to the UA community as part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series. The series is free and open to the community. Those attending are encouraged to bring a lunch. For more information, contact the WRC at 205/348-5040.