Alexandra Thelin Blackowski Receives Dissertation Prize

Dr. Alexandra Thelin Blackowski, Web and Digital Media Manager in the Dean’s Office for the College of the Arts, was awarded the Mary Pennywitt Lester Dissertation Prize in recognition of her doctoral dissertation. Endowed in 2001 by Mary Pennywitt Lester G’78, the prize is awarded on occasion to an exceptional Doctor of Philosophy dissertation. Alexandra graduated from Drew University with a Ph.D. in History and Culture on May 15, 2026.

Her dissertation examines how fashion expression and cultural identity evolve through translations and visual adaptations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Originally published in 1865 by Lewis Carroll, the text has been reinterpreted across languages, cultures, and historical periods. Through an analysis of accompanying illustrations and dress depicted on characters, the research explores how clothing, aesthetics, and visual culture reflect the values, social norms, and identities of the societies in which each adaptation was produced and read. The study highlights how cultures continually reimagine a classic European narrative.

In support of her dissertation research, Alexandra was also awarded the Margaret and Marshall Bartlett Research Fellowship.

She presented portions of her dissertation research at multiple academic conferences, including the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association’s 29th Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, in November 2025, as well as the 19th Century Dress & Textiles Reframed Network virtual symposium in July 2025.

In addition to her dissertation research, Alexandra has contributed scholarship focused on fashion, visual culture, and American identity. Her chapter, “Louboutin’s Red: Using Color to Connect France’s Past and Present,” appeared in Storytelling Luxury Fashion: Brands, Visual Cultures, and Technologies (2020). She also authored an essay on the musical 1776 published in Greater Philadelphia: A New History for the Twenty-First Century, Volume 2: Greater Philadelphia and the Nation, edited by Charlene Mires and Jean R. Soderlund and published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.