Bio

Alison Kowalski studies design and material culture in the United States from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, with a focus on topics related to women, national identity, and the working classes. She is also interested in how products were made, how the people involved learned their skills, how the work was organized, and how the end results were portrayed in the media.

Alison’s doctoral research was on Detroit designer Pipsan Saarinen Swanson, sister of Eero Saarinen. Her dissertation examined the relationship between Swanson’s work in interiors and her work in mass-produced furnishings from the 1920s to 1950s. It assessed how her career progressed from interior design, a field with many women, into areas of mass-production design with little female representation, namely furniture, lighting, metalware, and glassware design. It also explored how Swanson’s interiors, specially designed for individual clients, developed into product lines and brand identities aimed at national audiences.

Other subjects Alison has written on range from the mechanization of bottle making to black tights as a symbol of nonconformity. She has published her work in exhibition catalogues, academic journals (Journal of Design History and Textile History), and specialist magazines (Material Intelligence and Hyperallergic). Currently, she is researching the design of Los Angeles cafeterias, which in the early twentieth century were known around the country for their extravagant design and their class inclusiveness. Her inquiry concentrates on their appeal for women as well as the affinity between cafeteria design and ascendant Hollywood.

Before coming to NC State, Alison was an assistant professor at California State University, Long Beach; prior, she taught at Parsons School of Design, Drexel University, Rutgers University, the College for Creative Studies, and Wayne State University. She also served as a research assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.