The International Quilt Study Center & Museum offers a range of classes to both graduate students and to interested individuals. Ongoing lectures, workshops, and symposia present unique opportunities for learning to those interested in building knowledge about quilts and their history. Subscribe to our Quilt of the Month for updates on educational programs and special events.
Please read the course and workshop descriptions carefully to learn about credit availability, pricing and registration deadlines. We are not permitted to offer non-credit enrollment in courses offered for academic credit.
Courses & Workshops
- History of Quilts
TXCD 818
A Distance Delivery Course
Instructor: Dr. Virginia Gunn
June 7 - August 12, 2010
3 credit hours
Class limit: 24 students
Learn more about the fascinating history of quilts through this ten-week course created for distance delivery. Dr. Virginia Gunn will moderate course discussions on the course website and is the guest instructor for the course. Dr. Gunn is a Professor at the University of Akron (Ohio). She holds a degree in American History and teaches courses in the history of dress, history of textiles and history of interiors at the University of Akron. She is a past president of the American Quilt Study Group (AQSG) and served as editor of its annual monograph, Uncoverings, from 1995-2003.
Videotaped lectures on DVD and a reading list will be mailed to students prior to the first class. Lectures about the history of quilts are given by renowned textile scholars including: Virginia Gunn; Jennifer Goldsborough (author of Lavish Legacies: Baltimore Album Quilts); Jonathan Holstein (author of Abstract Design in American Quilts); Merikay Waldvogel (curator and author of Soft Covers for Hard Times and Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War); Dorothy Osler (author of Traditional British Quilts); Janet Berlo (Professor of Art History at University of Rochester and author of Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovation and Artistry in American Quilts); and Margaret Ordonez (contributing author to Down by the Old Mill Stream). Course discussions of assigned readings will take place on a discussion board created on the UNL Blackboard course management system via the Internet. E-mail will be used for private communication.
All students must have a computer with access to the Internet and an active e-mail account. Minimum computer requirements: PC: Windows 98 or Windows XP or higher, Pentium processor 600 MHz (minimum); Mac: Mac OS system 9.0 or later, PowerPC processor 600 MHz (minimum). Minimum requirements for both platforms: 128 MB of RAM, 20 GB of hard disk space, CD-ROM drive, 56 kbps modem, Web Browser: Netscape Communicator 7.0 (or later) or Internet Explorer 6.0. Note: Most versions of the AOL Web browser do not work well with the Blackboard software used at UNL. The UNL Help Desk cannot assist AOL users.
- Textile History Seminar
TXCD 978
Ralli: Traditional Quilts of Pakistan and India
Instructor: Dr. Patricia Stoddard
June 28-July 2
1 credit
This one-week seminar will explore the "world" of traditional quilts from Pakistan and India known as ralli. They will be considered in their many "contexts" including social, religious, economic, and historical. In addition, students will examine their construction, materials, use and meanings. Examples from the IQSC collection of the three traditional categories of ralli -- patchwork, applique and embroidery -- will be studied. The seminar is being held in conjunction with an exhibition of ralli at the IQSC Museum entitled "South Asian Seams: Quilts from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh."
Patricia Stoddard, Ph. D., author and former assistant professor at Brigham Young University, has taught, researched and done humanitarian work in Asia, Africa and Central and South America. She lived in Pakistan between 1996-1998. Since that time she focused her research on the study and documentation of the ralli quilts of Pakistan and India. She is the author of the Ralli Quilts: Traditional Textiles from Pakistan and India (2003). She has lectured extensively about rallis to many groups both nationally and internationally and has also assisted museums with consulting, collections and exhibitions.
- Registration Information
Registration is a two-step process. First, you must apply for admission to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Once admitted, you may register for a workshop or course.
We encourage degree-seeking students to apply for admission by January 15 to ensure a smooth transition. You may apply for admission after that date, but you may not be admitted in time to register for classes on the first day of registration in March. UNL offers several ways to work toward a M.A. degree with a Quilt Studies emphasis. For information on those programs click here. Forms for graduate admission are available from the Graduate Studies Office, 402-472-2878 or click on the link to their website below. Outside the Lincoln area, call 800-742-8800, ext. 2878.
Non-degree seeking students who wish to audit the course, may apply for admission via the expedited application procedure. You must hold a bachelor's degree in order to apply for admission. A transcript from your undergraduate institution will be required. For more information, visit the Graduate Studies web site.
Once you have been admitted as either a degree-seeking student or a nondegree-seeking student, you will be given instructions on the University of Nebraska on-line registration system. Registration for summer courses begins in early March.
