History professor Gwen Kay, who also serves as president of the SUNY Faculty Senate, will be part of the panel for a discussion presented by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History titled "Looking Good on that Zoom Call: Personal Appearance During Quarantine," an online discussion at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Video meeting platforms now host some 300 million daily participants. Part of the Tuesday Colloquiam "Pandemic Perspectives: Stories Through Collections" series, this session will explore historical shifts in personal appearance in America, including what people wear, their use of makeup, and beard and hairstyles. Panelists will discuss who has control over their work appearance and employment and other constraints on personal style. Based on this history, the session will explore how working from home may impact the future of style.
Kay specializes in 20th-century American history, particularly issues of medicine, science and gender. She joins other panelists Crystal Moten of the National Museum of American History and Allan Peterkin of the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. Arthur Daemmrich of the National Museum of American History will moderate.
For the series, curators, historians and invited experts provide an engaging series of panels offering perspectives on the current pandemic. Panelists will virtually share objects from the past as a springboard to a lively discussion of how to better understand the present. Audience questions are encouraged.
The Zoom event is free and open to all audiences, with online preregistration required via the Smithsonian.