# Elizabeth Dospěl Williams Associate in Research ![headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum3586/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/2025-09/EDW.jpeg?itok=B5JAyoig) email Elizabeth Dospěl Williams is Penny Vinik Chair of Fashion, Textiles and Jewelry at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She previously was Curator of the Byzantine Collection at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C., where she curated special exhibitions including *Rich in Blessings: Women, Wealth, and the Late Antique Household* (2023) and *Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt* (2019). At the MFA, she currently is co-curating the cross-departmental special exhibition, *Framing Nature: Gardens and Imagination,* opening in March 2026. Dospěl Williams has authored numerous chapters and exhibition catalogue essays, with a focus on wearable arts, interior design, provenance history, and comparative art historical approaches. Her research is forthcoming or has appeared in *Speculum, West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture, Dumbarton Oaks Papers,* and *The Textile Museum Journal*. With Eiren Shea and Patricia Blessing, she recently co-authored *Medieval Textiles across Eurasia, c. 300-1500* for the Cambridge Elements in the Global Middle Ages Series (2023). Dospěl Williams holds a Ph.D. in Byzantine and Islamic art history and archaeology from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. - ## People [Posdoctoral scholars and associates](/people/posdoctoral-scholars-and-associates)