A female perspective: Experiences of fashion, textiles, clothing and design

BACKGROUND: Carole Hunt (Art, Design, and Fashion) and Gayle Brewer (Psychology) at the University of Central Lancashire are currently investigating the extent to which female designers’ personal experiences impact on the design process of women’s clothing. The research is driven by theme rather than discipline, and focuses on a combination of clothing, textiles, visual appearance, gender and identity. Participants are final year Fashion Design students, who have had a year’s experience in industry. There are two key themes. 1. Body image, appearance and dissatisfaction are positioned within debates on subjectivity and identity, and are associated with a range of negative consequences including anxiety and depression. The fashion industry is said to have created a toxic environment that increases the likelihood of eating disorders. There is little research into the experience of those, other than models, who work in the fashion industry. 2. How do social, cultural and symbolic experiences of clothing, beauty and the body, affect design practice and the finished garment? METHOD: Participants complete a questionnaire identifying demographic status, professional training and experience of design. Semi-structured interviews are then conducted inviting participants to narrate and reflect on their experiences. Visual data is collected from participants’ studio work. How are designers’ social, cultural, and symbolic experiences of textiles, clothing and physical appearance conveyed and communicated through the fashion design visually, as well as through language? FINDINGS: Four distinct themes are emerging: 1. Differences between the University studio, and being “out there” in industry: being judged on appearance has had a negative impact on selfimage. 2. Social and cultural influences informing perceptions of women’s’ physical appearance. Students sought to challenge stereotypes through their design work. 3. A dichotomy between negative self-image and customer, described as in her twenties, strong, confident, financially independent; a woman unafraid to stand out. 4. Clothing as shelter, a protection from value judgements. Clothing as a ‘stylish fortress’ is a common theme. DISCUSSION: 1. Issues of health and well-being of fashion design students including physical appearance, disordered eating and weight related issues. 2. Social and cultural influences on gender identity. 3. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research methods

Curbing Violence in Schools: Implications for Christian Educators

A safe and supportive school environment is necessary for enhancing and nurturing students’ gifts, talents and abilities. Within the last ten years, however, there has been a dramatic increase in violent confrontations within school environments around the world. There is no doubt that the well-being of students is at risk. This article explores the antecedents and etiology of violence and describes psychoeducational intervention and prevention models that can be used to reduce or prevent it. It also focuses on the collaborative roles and functions of Christian educators in significantly reducing the incidence of violence through the implementation of self-enhancing, growthproducing, and character-building programs and activities for students

Recognizing and Addressing the Oral Health Needs of Georgia

Background: The intent of this report is to provide an assessment of oral health needs for Georgia and to highlight the efforts underway at the Dental College of Georgia (DCG) at Augusta University to address these needs. In underserved areas of Georgia, the burden of untreated oral disease remains high. Because of in-migration and the inadequate availability of educational programs, the population continues to grow faster than the number of health care providers. Methods: An overview of the oral health needs in Georgia is provided, along with a review of the ongoing outreach by the DCG to address those oral health needs. The data presented are derived from a variety of reports on oral health care workforce issues in Georgia between 2004 and 2014. Results: By partnering with dental clinics across the state of Georgia, the DCG continues to improve the provision of primary oral health care in underserved communities. This effort expands the clinical outreach through year-round student rotations and by fostering collaboration between dental and medical students within these clinics with the integration of primary care and public health prevention strategies. Recruitment to address the shortage and maldistribution of dentists and admissions policies to increase class size and to enhance diversity are also discussed. Conclusions: The DCG will continue to collaborate with Dental Public Health, private dental clinics, and Area Health Education Centers to treat the underserved in a network of statewide clinics. Additionally, they will provide a larger and more diverse cohort of dentists. The goal is to expand overall activities for a greater statewide impact on oral health during these difficult economic times

Worn clothes and textiles as archives of memory

The subject of this article is memory, specifically, the capacity of textiles to retain and communicate memory, both privately and publicly. I argue that cloth can be regarded as a form of archival information and as a carrier of knowledge. My questions centre on the value of textiles in our lives and on the role of textiles in the process of recollection, as well as the extent to which textiles can stimulate remembering, not through the strategic mnemonics of national monuments and events, or the mnemonic device of the souvenir, but rather through unplanned encounters with textiles in their various guises and in different contexts. Each attempt at recollection may reveal historical, cultural, and personal data. The themes of ‘archiving’ memory and ‘materializing’ memory are explored through an analysis of works of artists who use textile media in their visual practice and writers who include their memories of textiles in their works. I use ‘Miniature’ and ‘Gigantic’ as a critical tool to distinguish between two areas of analysis: the private and public within an interdisciplinary approach, combining the study of memory with philosophy, literature, history, material culture and visual studies

Dressed for the Part: Clothing as Narrative Enquiry into Gender, Class, and Identity of Pauper Lunatics at Whittingham Asylum, England, 1907–1919

This article examines the relationship between dress, gender and class, identity, and mental illness. It centres on Whittingham Asylum, not far from the town of Preston, Lancashire, North West England. The article focuses on a collection of female admissions records and photographic portraits from Whittingham Asylum during the period c. 1890-1930. The analysis is interdisciplinary. Theoretical perspectives from fashion, feminist discourse and material culture are combined with the writings of Jacques Derrida, Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag, as well as contemporary literary sources, to explore the social and cultural realities embedded in the clothing of those women featured

Culturally Relevant Approaches to Classroom Management

Students from various cultural backgrounds may experience cultural dissonance when teachers and educational administrators from the mainstream culture misconstrue, misinterpret or simply disregard their cultural patterns of learning, behaviour and communication. Due to changing demographics worldwide, cultural diversity is the norm for many schools today. It is therefore imperative that teachers and educational administrators become aware of the variances and unique qualities and characteristics of the groups, cultures and languages represented in their schools. This article specifically highlights important sociocultural issues in classroom management and presents effective strategies for managing multicultural classes. Implications for Christian teachers are addressed

Creating a Christ-centered Climate for Educational Excellence: Philosophical, Instructional, Relational, Assessment and Counseling Dimensions

Interest is peaking among educators in North America, and around the world, on issues relating to school climate. A primary reason for this strong interest is research confirmation that school climate may have a positive or negative effect on educational processes. A Christ-Centered school climate provides the best opportunities for stakeholders to work collaboratively to achieve four primary educational outcomes. These are: (1) creating and sustaining bias free learning environments where relationships are nurtured by love, respect, tolerance, and kindness; (2) establishing faith-based instructional and service learning programs which cater to the needs of students; and (3) utilizing quality assessment tools to measure school climate, and instructional goals/objectives. This is a monumental task, but it can be accomplished if stakeholders are deeply and passionately committed to the foundational tenets of Christian educatio

Cultural Narrative Archive: Recording and Sharing Meaningful Life Narratives Through the Culture, Psychology and Resilience (CPR) Research Lab in the Department of Graduate Psychology and Counseling.

The sharing of life narratives is the basis of deep relationships, introspection, and a meaningful existence (Lewis, 2011). The current study aims to create a Cultural Narrative Archive (CNA) for the people affiliated with Andrews University. The stories shared are to be celebrated through the public access archive and through research

Exposure to the Fashion Industry: A Design Student Perspective

It has been argued that the fashion industry represents a ‘toxic’ environment, which increases the incidence of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders amongst both fashion models and consumers [Treasure, J. L., Wack, E. R., & Roberts, M. R. (2008). Models as a high-risk group: The health implications of a size zero culture. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 192, 243–244]. There is,however, a paucity of information investigating the experiences of designers working in the fashion industry. The present study addresses this limitation and considers the experiences of female fashion design students. Interviews were conducted with eight students and subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three master themes emerged from the analysis. These were: Personal Style; Body Dissatisfaction; and Design. Two sub-themes formed the Personal Style theme: Casual and Comfortable and Covered and Protected. The Body Dissatisfaction theme contained two sub-themes: Personal Experience and Industry Exposure. The Design theme contained three sub-themes: Strength and Confidence; Differences Between Personal Style and Design; and Gender. Findings have important implications for the recruitment, retention, and well-being of female fashion design students

Analysis of Endocrine Response to Perceived Difference in Cross-cultural Interactions

We live in a world where awareness of ethnic and cultural diversity is an ever increasing reality. Business and education turn to the social sciences to inform them about how to manage and optimize cross-cultural interactions. Although much research has been done on the impact of cross-cultural interactions on a wide range of variables, one less researched area is the endocrine response to cross-cultural interactions. In this study we set out to investigate the endocrine response to cross cultural interactions and the impact of these interactions on perceived differences. To do so we measured the pre and post levels of the stress hormone cortisol of individuals communicating in dyads for 15 minutes. Results showed a significant impact of ethnic interaction on perceived differences and cortisol levels. Practical implications of these findings could have application in the areas of education, psychology, business and human relations in general. Implications for further research are discussed