Fashion as Communication

Satisfies one of two writing-intensive courses required within the Communication major. Restricted to Juniors and Seniors. This writing intensive course approaches fashion as a social practice that functions not only as an aesthetic performance, but also communicates messages concerning one's gender, sexual, racial, and class identities, affiliation with (or opposition to) resistant political movements and subcultural groups, and their attitudes towards the ruling ideology. When we get dressed, we are always broadcasting to others resonant signals about who we are, what we value, and how we wish to be treated. While sometimes dismissed as a "superficial" cultural phenomenon, fashion serves as a key site at which struggles over social power and the equitable and sustainable distribution of resources are staged. In this course, we will conduct a historical survey of fashion trends in their sociopolitical contexts, examine the complex intermingling of fashion's aesthetic impact and its cultural effects, and study changes in the fashion industry that have profound implications for human rights and the environment. Students will conduct a research project (culminating in a 25-page paper) that analyzes and critiques stylistic objects, fashion trends, or industry developments in light of their relation to cultural, social, or political change.