Diversity/Equity

The Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEAB) Committee

The Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEAB) Committee is a standing committee of the Costume Society of America Board of Directors led by the Vice President of Internal Relations. The DEAB Committee promotes and advocates for DEAB initiatives and philosophies throughout Costume Society of America by:


  • amplifying members’ voices, particularly of those within historically marginalized communities while promoting the rejection of bias against these communities
  • identifying policies and practices that are inequitable both within CSA and in the broader field of costume studies and practice
  • meeting with various CSA leadership members as needed to inquire about current and future DEAB-relevant initiatives; establishing how the DEAB committee can inform or support said initiatives
  • cultivating a sense of belonging for all members, but particularly those that have been historically marginalized and/or underrepresented in the organization and/or field, with targeted initiatives approved by the CSA Board.

  • DEAB Statement

    The Costume Society of America network of members studies the past, examines the present, and anticipates the future of clothing and fashion. We, as an organization, commit to eliminate discrimination and provide equitable treatment of all members and those affiliated with CSA. We aim to reject white supremacy, ableism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, fat phobia, xenophobia and other biases in the organization’s future practices. We pledge to provide and maintain a community that respects all races, genders, sexual orientations, religious affiliations, abilities, nationalities, and ethnicities.


    Dress can define, unite, and divide people. It is an integral point of culture and identity. We respect the individual experience and viewpoint. CSA expects its members to assume positive intent when we express opinions through dialogue and discourse. We advocate freedom of expression through research, publishing, exhibition, and other creative endeavors. Moreover, we highly encourage scholars and professionals to conduct all of their work with a heightened attention to diversity, equity, accessibility, and belonging (DEAB) issues. As professionals, we recognize the gravity and sentiment of these issues.


    We remain committed to continual education on diversity, equity, accessibility, and belonging issues so that we can continually improve as an organization. We are committed to developing action items to promote diversity, equity, accessibility, and belonging that are based on goals as outlined in our current strategic plan (Increase diversity in our membership and in subject matter and research, including hidden, overlooked, and marginalized topics) and future goals as identified by CSA’s DEAB committee.

  • DEAB Committee Members

    Melissa Gamble currently serves as a co-chair of the DEAB Committee. She can be reached at deab@costumesocietyamerica.com.


    • The membership aims to represent the diversity of the organization and should seek to include individuals who feel able to bring heightened critical attention to intersecting historically marginalized identities via understanding of DEAB issues and injustice.
    • All members of the committee must be current members of CSA. 
    • The membership should include at least one representative from each of CSA’s regions and aims to represent a variety of disciplines and specialties.

    If you are a member and are interested in helping us with this work by serving, please fill out the form found here.

  • DEAB News

    In 2019, CSA launched the ad-hoc Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (now Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging) committee, and twenty-six members joined in the first year. We had an average of twelve members attend the monthly meetings. The committee supports the CSA strategic plan goals adopted in 2018 to: (a) increase diversity in subject matter and research, including hidden, overlooked, and marginalized topics and (b) increase diversity in our membership and attract younger scholars, students, and early career professionals. From November 2019 until February 2022, the committee met with different CSA leaders to learn about DEAB work currently happening in their area, future plans, and how DEAB can assist in these initiatives. In January 2022, the board approved the DEAB committee to become a formal advisory committee reporting to CSA’s Vice President of Internal Relations. 


    Here are a few of the ways that the committee interacted with our CSA leaders in 2021:


    · Education: reviewed and edited the CSA Symposium call for papers and rubric for the 2022 Symposium, developed a rubric training for the new DEAB-related column for all CSA Symposium reviewers, and hosted a webinar to educate members about DEAB-related scholarship approaches


    · Awards & Honors and Grants &Projects: reviewed and edited the calls for grants and awards to include DEAB-related language and training for reviewers


    · Technology: identified possible speakers for webinars with a DEAB focus and discussed how to seek funding to provide live captioning and transcripts for CSA webinars and video conferencing


    · Communication: identified a DEAB committee member to provide updates about the committee to CSA members through the e-News and proposed creating an easily accessed space for DEAB-related information on the CSA website

Feedback?

Our members are important to us. CSA is committed to growing and improving as an organization. To do that, we need your input. We invite you to share feedback, suggestions, and concerns with the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging Committee by clicking here to contact us:

Contact the DEAB Committee
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