2010 Irwin C. Schroedl Jr. Lecturer: Dr. John Michael Vlach

March 25, 2010 |

Dr. John Michael Vlach, professor of American studies and director of the Folklife Program at George Washington University, will give a lecture titled “‘Then I Went Into It Forcibly’: African-American Creativity in Arts and Crafts Across Four Centuries” on Thursday, March 25, at 7 p.m. in Goucher College’s Kelley Lecture Hall.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Professor Gail Husch at 410-337-6257 or ghusch@goucher.edu.

Vlach has spent more than 30 years studying the African Diaspora through field research in Africa, the Caribbean, and the southern United States. He has written 10 books on a variety of topics in American decorative arts, vernacular architecture, and rural landscape. His most recent work, Barns, won the 2003 Kniffen Prize for Best Book on North American Material Culture. Barns, a visual survey of farm buildings across the United States, traces the historical and regional influences of one of America’s fundamental building types.

Vlach has also developed exhibitions for art museums, historical societies, and libraries across the country. He serves as an adviser to a Capitol Hill community oral history project and is a member of the Historic Preservation Review Board for the District of Columbia.

Vlach’s Goucher appearance is the 2010 Irwin C. Schroedl Jr. Lecture in the Decorative Arts and Material Culture. Former Goucher registrar and alumna Evelyn Schroedl established this lecture series in 1997 to honor the memory of her husband and bring prominent art personalities to the college’s campus.