Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design

News

Summer 2009

• The spring semester ended with fashion shows.  The student Fashion Merchandising Society held theirs on April 1st.  Three weeks later was the 2009 "Spring Splash" with the theme of "Rock the Runway".  This event also allowed us to award several scholarships, welcome alumnae to our wall of fame, and recognize new industry partners. 
• In other scholarship news, Nancy Tong won the Elizabeth W. Christopher Memorial Scholarship. Nancy is studying Chinese and intends to study there as part of her undergraduate degree.  Ashley Matassa was awarded the Home Economics Endowment  for the Study of Business.  Ashley is a senior from Hopkinton RI and is a TM major.
•  This spring semester 25 of our majors are studying abroad.  18 are in Italy (13 in Florence, 5 in Rome), 2 in Australia, 2 in England, 2 in Spain, and France and one each in Germany, France, and South Africa.  This furthers our goal of making our students more globally aware. Meanwhile, we are welcoming Amy Govey, Andrew Hughes and Lucy Morrison from the University of Westminster, as they study with us.
• Last summer Jenna Bohacik, Rachel DeWeese, Shannon Fresca, Tanya Garvin and Aline Menzilla studied at Kent State University's New York Studio.  More students are planning to go this coming summer. 

• Linda Welters and graduate students attended the "Subculture and Style" conference at FIT on February 14th.  From left to right, Kira Munroe, Kelly Poorman, Linda Welters, Michelle Harbeson, Courtney Bubier, and Annie-Beth Ellington.  The trip was funded by the College of Human Science and Services Graduate Student Fund: Thanks!

• Susan Hannel, Diane Martin have now included the new Lectra CAD system in several classes.  This was acquired through a Champlin  Foundation grant.  
• Fourteen students went on the Winter break study tour of London and Paris, led this year by Susan Hannel.  You can see pictures from the trip. Michelle Laurita said "The study tour was one of the best experiences I have had as a student here at URI.  I learned so much: not only about fashion, but also about myself".
• Martin Bide finished his two year term as President of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. His term included trips to visit local AATCC sections in India, a joint conference with CTIC and SDC in Shanghai, and representing AATCC at the  Annual Day of Celebration of the Society of Dyers and Colorists in Bradford, UK.
• The seminar class (TMD 402) is the "capstone class" for the department's majors. It runs with a different theme each spring semester, and features a series of guest speakers from industry. Linda Welters is directing this spring's seminar on Innovation.  She also directed the Spring 2008 seminar on the theme of Sustainability. You can see all the details of past seminars: the Spring 2007 seminar was "Fashion for all Ages",  the Spring 2006 seminar was "Made in China", organized by Sook-Hyun Kim.  Susan Hannel led the 2005 seminar on  "The Art and Science of Fashion".  Past semesters have dealt with Current Issues in Retailing (2004) "Innovation" (2003),   Globalization in the Textile and Apparel Complex (2002), "The Future of Fashion." (2001), and  "Changing Demographics" (2000).  Follow the links to see the lists of speakers, and summaries of their talks.  
• Linda Welters is finishing up an NEH grant to add data from RI's Quilt Documentation Project to a national database.  The work began in 2007 with the help of grad student Katie Baker, and continues through October.  Look out for a link to the study database!
• We are sorry to announce that Abby Lillethun has resigned to take a position at Montclair State University in New Jersey, closer to home.  She is teaching TMD 524 for us in the spring semester, however, while she works with Linda Welters on the second edition of hugely successful "Fashion Reader."
• The spring semester sees continuing contributions from our cadre of part-time faculty.   Gideon Loewenstein (interior design), and Karl Aspelund (apparel design) are doing their usual sterling job.  George Dubois is teaching Textile Science Labs (TMD313), Jan Doyle is teaching the weaving course, and Blair Walker is teaching TMD 224.  You can see their faces and bios on our "Lecturers" page.
• "The Fashion Reader" edited by Abby Lillethun and Linda Welters has been published by Berg.  It includes contributions from Ric McIntyre, Yngve Ramstead and Art Mead of URI's Economics Department.  Illustrations from Joy Emery and The Commercial Pattern Archive as well as URI Library's Special Collections are featured, along with photos of items from the Department's Historic Collection. a proposal for a second edition is under consideration.

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