Miami University Introduces New Fashion Co-Majors And Minors

BY HANNAH JOLLY
Miami University journalism student

At a school known as J-Crew U, it might be a surprise that fashion has only recently become a larger part of the curriculum. Miami officially introduced three new fashion design co-majors and added an additional minor to the existing fashion design minor on Nov. 3.

The creation of these new Miami options took more than two years of planning. Della Reams, visiting assistant professor in fashion design, and Leslie Stoel, professor of marketing, spearheaded the effort. As of Nov. 11, when applications were due, the program had reached its 200-person cap of enrolled fashion students. The original fashion design minor had 182 declared students, 27 of whom asked to change to one of the new co-majors. In addition, there were 32 new applicants, 16 applying to be minors, and 16 applying to be co-majors.

Students enrolled in this new curriculum can study in one of five tracks. The fashion co-majors require students to complete 37 to 41 credit hours of fashion theory and design courses paired with another Miami major. These co-majors include fashion design, fashion corporate business, and fashion entrepreneurship. The minors require students to complete 21 credit hours on a track geared toward either fashion design or fashion business.

By pairing the fashion co-major with other majors, the new approach will expand the liberal arts education students receive at Miami, Reams said.

“With the co-major, we have people whose mindset and way of being creative is totally different," she said. "This isn’t like your other classes. You don’t rush through creativity. Hopefully, it starts to open students up and if they have been on an educational track, it can throw them off so that they see things differently.”

The tracks geared toward business were created because of a very specific need expressed by Miami students. In a survey conducted by the College of Creative Arts at Miami University, 85 percent of students who had previously declared the fashion design minor said they would rather study fashion in business, leading the CCA to offer fashion business courses.

Despite the number of students interested in the program, it is only a co-major because of the limited number of professors available to teach the courses. Three adjunct professors have been hired, along with two full-time professors to teach these fashion classes. The university plans to hire up to three new adjunct professors as the program grows.

Inspiration for the new curriculum came from Miami University Fashion and Design, a student-run fashion club.

"We were really one of the driving forces in getting these fashion minors and majors created because we have over 250 active members," said Steele Fitzwater, a senior who serves as public relations chair for the club. "With the fashion show that we produce every spring, we really wanted a chance for our students in the club and outside of the club to get to experience fashion, not just the clothing but the retail, merchandising, buying, planning, and also, of course, the design aspect.”

Melanie Mortimore, an assistant professor of theatre and member of the search committee for the new fashion professors said, “When you think about it, fashion is an industry that literally touches every single life, and to not be addressing that fully on this campus was a shame so I hope that it is taken really seriously here.”

Fitzwater anticipates that the fashion program will be successful because several classes are offered through the Farmer School of Business. “One of Miami’s biggest strengths as a school is their business school and two of the majors that we are offering are through business and entrepreneurship. I think that’s something that sets us apart from fashion schools.”

Applications for admission into the fashion programs are now closed and will re-open Jan. 1.

Photo: The Miami Fashion and Design club inspired new curriculum. -- Contributed photo

This story was produced as part of a broadcast journalism class at Miami.