Design and Merchandising Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

Fourth-year students studying product development in the apparel and merchandising major research a specific population or target market in need of adaptable clothing including those with prosthetic limbs, arthritis, relying on a wheelchair for mobility, diabetes in need of injection access, visual impairments, and others. Through research, students create adaptive design solutions to make clothing more accessible.

Kristen Morris, Assistant Professor in Apparel and Merchandising

“Studio III students participated in a national-level competition by the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) to create a refugee environment. Students had the opportunity to work on small teams and chose a place on the globe and research the reasons why a particular group of people are being forced to migrate to new regions. They did research on the cultural crisis and crafted personal narratives for the inhabitants of their dwelling. They were challenged to address both the functional and emotional dimensions of the design challenge. Students created graphic posters that contain their visuals and written statements. ”

Laura Cole, Associate Professor in Interior Architecture and Design

“In Social Psychology of Clothing, students conduct research projects using qualitative methods to explore why people dress the way they do, how they construct their personal appearances, and what they wish to communicate through appearances. Student topics are inclusive of the lived realities of diverse individuals and have explored issues such as the ways that members of the queer community communicate gender and sexual identity through dress, the meanings of waist beads among US-based (African) makers and wearers, body image among college-aged men, and the beauty- and aging-related attitudes and behaviors of middle-aging women.”

Jennifer Ogle, Professor in Apparel and Merchandising

Examining Restroom Design as a traditional space of exclusion in the built environment 

In INTD 110, students examine the restroom through several lenses to understand the impact of exclusion on the build environment. Guest speakers from CSU Facilities Management Team, and the University Operations Diversity Committee present the case study about the policy for updating restrooms on campus to be all-gender and the research that went into this design decision becoming a policy decision for new construction on campus. In addition, the Inclusive Fort Collins guest speaker presented an initiative to help local businesses update their signage for all-gender restrooms. Students also engage with industry perspectives on restroom design related to advocacy for building and plumbing codes and policy changes to impact design. 

Leah Scolere, Assistant Professor, Interior Architecture and Design 

Drawing on the concept of Design Justice by Sasha Costanza-Chock, students analyze design projects in the context of design justice principles which seek to rethink design processes by centering more voices that have been traditionally marginalized in the design process. Students apply a design justice framework to their projects as an analytical tool to strategically consider who benefits from a design, who is involved in the design, and who might be harmed by the design. Students are introduced to a co-design process that focuses on designing with instead of designing for to activate community resources and knowledge toward design solutions. 

Leah Scolere, Assistant Professor, Interior Architecture and Design