Interior Design and Fashion Studies

225 Justin Hall
1324 Lovers Lane
785-532-6993
Fax: 785-532-3796
idfsgradinfo@ksu.edu
www.hhs.k-state.edu/idfs

Department head:

Barbara Anderson

Director of graduate studies:

Melody LeHew

Graduate faculty:

Barbara G. Anderson, M.Arch., University of Kansas
Kelsie Doty, Ph.D., Cornell University
Michael Dudek, M.S., Florida State University
*Sherry Haar, Ph.D., Virginia Tech
*Kim Hiller-Connell, Ph.D., Michigan State University
^†Migette L. Kaup, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee^†
Hyungchan Kim, M.F.A., Iowa State University
*Melody L. A. LeHew, Ph.D., University of Tennessee
Karen Pedersen, Ph.D., Oklahoma State University
*^†Joy M. Robbins, Ph.D., Iowa State University^†
*Yingying Wu, Ph.D., Cornell University

*Denotes graduate faculty that are certified to serve as the major professor for doctoral students.
^†Denotes graduate faculty that are faculty in Gerontology.

Inter-Institutional faculty:

Greg Clare, Oklahoma State University
Joan Ellis, South Dakota State University
Jennifer Jorgensen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jaeha Lee, North Dakota State University
Nancy Lyons, South Dakota State University
Linda Manikowske, North Dakota State University

Programs

Objectives

Graduate education in Fashion Studies provides online and resident opportunities to advance knowledge in fashion and merchandising with an emphasis on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Facilities and Equipment

Product Development Laboratories

The recently renovated apparel product development laboratory includes industrial sewing, pressing, and patternmaking equipment, ergonomic furnishings, and high tech teaching technologies. Industry standard software and hardware, such as OptiTex and Adobe Suite, are used for product development, patternmaking, and technical specifications.

The textile research laboratory provides facilities for nanoweb fabrication, wettability characterization, and water vapor permeability testing. The equipment includes a water vapor transmission rate tester (W3/031, Labthink) and a SiroFAST System for fabric mechanical property testing.

A GTCO Calcomp RD3 pattern digitizer, wide format plotters, Structure Sensor, Vicon Bonita 10 motion capture system, and Novel pliance X are available for research related to anthropometrics, clothing sizing, and patternmaking. A variety of software, including AnthroScan and Geomagic are used to manipulate scanned data. Plus, a set of Tobii Eye-tracking Glasses Pro 2 and Tobii Data Analyzer software are available for behavioral research.

The natural dye laboratory is equipped for dyeing, printing, and steaming of textiles for research and creative inquiry projects. Equipment includes a bullet steamer, and a colorimeter, which is available for colorfastness tests.

Center on Aging

Some faculty in the Department of Interior Design and Fashion Studies also serve as faculty in the gerontology program and conduct collaborative research with other gerontology faculty through the K-State Center on Aging. The Center on Aging offers both undergraduate and graduate coursework for students; faculty conduct basic and applied research on issues of aging with particular emphasis on the social, economic, psychological, and environmental factors that may improve the quality of life for older adults.

Historic Costume and Textile Museum

The Historic Costume and Textile Museum is a notable collection of traditional and artistic artifacts, which are available for scholarly research. With over 15,000 holdings, the collection includes a number of Nelly Don dresses, wearable art from Anita Luvera Mayer, American quilts, haute couture, salon shoes, military uniforms, Byzantine-era textiles, Chinese and other ethnic textiles, and clothing and textiles from famous and not-so-famous mid westerners. Begun in the early 20th century, the collection’s holdings are still augmented by friends, faculty, and Kansas State University alumni who have lived and traveled throughout the world.

Admission and application

Application procedures

Applicants follow the Application Process of the Kansas State University Graduate School available at http://www.k-state.edu/grad/admissions/application-process/ The additional supporting documents below are required by the Department of Interior Design and Fashion Studies as part of the application package. The Kansas State University Graduate School requires that all application packages be fully complete before review by the graduate faculty in the department.

Applicant review by graduate faculty

Applications are reviewed after they are complete in the online application system and the application fee has been paid. IDFS graduate faculty review applications and decide whether to recommend admission at monthly graduate program meetings. It is advised that applicants contact graduate faculty members prior to applying to ensure there is a match between the applicants’ research interests and faculty expertise. If admission is recommended by the IDFS graduate faculty, the Graduate School conducts a final review. In the event the faculty decide against admission, the applicant is notified by letter sent via email.

Assistantships

Financial aid is available through teaching and research assistantships. Graduate students selected for an assistantship receive a monthly stipend and may be eligible for a tuition reduction or waiver. Assistantship applications are due January 8 with a decision announced by March 15.