TEXT & TEXTILE TWO-DAY SYMPOSIUM AND FASHION SHOW TSU STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND ALUMNI COORDINATE HISTORIC

Transdisciplinary Event

Kathleen Coleman, Arts Editor

and Dr. Morolake Dairo’s “Unrabeling the Threads of the Biafran War: Costume Analysis in the Movie Half of a Yellow Sun.”

Texas Southern University Students, faculty and alumni in the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences announced a transdisciplinary event. This year, the theme of the Annual Billy Joe Turner Writing Symposium was Literature, Fashion, and the Media Arts. On April 20th and 21st, scholars from as far away as Serbia, Canada,

India, Nigeria, and Australia joined national and local academics to present papers and panel discussions.

Among the long list of interesting presentations was Beatrice Chagnon’s “Between Schein and Shein: Inhabiting Clothing to Inhabit the World in Ingeborg Bachmann’s Short Story ‘Problems Problems’”

At midday on April 20th, student and professional poets took the stage to perform compelling spoken-word selections. The line up consisted of eight (8) Improv poet’s, including Lakia “Kanei” Taylor. Her insightful, heart wrenching lyrics dazzled every symposium attendee and inspired students to showcase their own wordsmithing talents in the open mic presentation.

As a fitting culminating to the symposium presentation and workshops, faculty, alumni and students coordinated an unparalleled evening of fashion. The 2023 LIT Fashion Experience honored and promoted Texas Southern University’s historic

Fashion Design and Textile Technology Department. Headlining the show was Houston’s own Chasity Sereal. The couturier earned acclaim after her appearance on Season 10 of the groundbreaking television show Project Runway. Featuring 10 original, literature-inspired looks, Sereal captivated both the attention of fashionistas and the imaginations of aspiring designers in attendance. Other globally renowned expert designers graced the LIT Fashion runway, including the incomparable Toni Whitaker, Seven O’Keefe Jarmon, and wearable art curator Shirlette Thompson. The fashion festivities took place on the evening of Friday, April 21, at 6:30 pm with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Short theatrical and poetry presentations followed by the TSU Theatre Dept.