Graduate

Fashion (MA)

Faculty

Susan Barnwell, Professor

MA, Interdisciplinary Studies, York University

N.D.D. (National Diploma of Design)

Susan was educated in Europe and North America and brings a multifaceted approach to design and research.  She has experienced the fantasy of theatre and television costume production in England, worked as a fashion editor of a daily newspaper in Hong Kong and has taught at universities in Asia and North America.  She has worked with museums on costume reconstruction and collaborated with hospital research teams designing clothing and accessories for breast cancer survivors with lymphedema.  She has travelled extensively, lived in Hong Kong and Tokyo, visited remote villages in the highlands of New Guinea, explored the high mountain passes of Tibet, travelled the camel route from Kandahar to Kabul and experienced cultural diversity of the minority groups in China.  She is an avid collector of design information and an observer of cultures.

Courses Taught:  History of Design, History of Costume, Clothing and Culture, Design Process. 

Recent Research: Susan has focused her wide-ranging interests into specific areas of research, including: The social and cultural aspects of clothing and design; the power of colour and product design in the Suffragette movement in Britain; and the influence of demographic change on Japanese cultural values.

Special Projects: Lymphedema Lines: Clothing and accessories for breast cancer patients at Princess Margaret Hospital.  The data collected was used to design a line of accessories and clothing.  The development of a modular bag with a therapeutic arm sling for cancer survivors with lymphedema.  US design patent issued for the bag December 2008; team members include Sandra Tullio-Pow, Ryerson, and Joyce Nyhof-Young, Princess Margaret Hospital.  Cultural Space Tokyo: Working with the Japan Foundation, field research was undertaken into the cultural space which has developed in the Sugamo and Harajuka areas of Tokyo.

Current Research: Working in cooperation with the drop-in-centre at All Saints Community Centre (Sherbourne at Dundas) Susan and a small group of senior students will research the social and cultural ramification of sex trade workers in Toronto. The main objective is to assist in challenges of self-esteem. The research will result in a range of collaboratively designed garments that will be presented at a fashion show scheduled for March 2013 at the new Regents Park Arts and Cultural Centre.

Professional Design Practice: Flying Frog Design Studio. Continuing research into the hierarchy of materials, she designs and produces ranges of Lucite and resin jewellery. Her jewellery is available at the Royal Ontario Museum gift store and at select venues across Canada.

Ben Barry, Assistant Professor

BA University of Toronto

MPhil, University of Cambridge

PhD, University of Cambridge

Hailed as a “hero to real women everywhere” by the Boston Globe, Dr. Ben Barry is dedicated to creating an inclusive fashion industry. He is currently an Assistant Professor of equity, inclusivity and diversity at the School of Fashion, Ryerson University. His research explores cross-cultural consumer attitudes towards diverse fashion models and institutional barriers that prevent and facilitate the inclusion of diversity in the fashion industry. Dr. Barry frequently serves as a media expert on fashion diversity, having been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Dr. Barry has over fifteen years of experience in the fashion business. He founded the first modeling agency in the world dedicated to representing fashion models of all sizes, ages, heights, backgrounds and abilities. He also served as a Special Advisor to the Quebec Government where he helped create North America’s first charter to encourage healthy and diverse models in advertising. Dr. Barry is the first male winner of the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case for advancing the equality of women in Canada. He is currently writing Refashioning Models: The Business Case for Diversity in Fashion.  Dr. Barry holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Women's Studies from the University of Toronto and a Master's in Innovation, Strategy and Organization as well as a PhD in Marketing from Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.

David Brame, Assistant Professor

BFA, Columbus College of Art & Design

MFA, University of Cincinnati

David Brame loves to draw.  Currently an assistant professor of fashion illustration and digital illustration in the School of Fashion at Ryerson University, he is trying to instill that love in his students.  His research interests are split between sequential illustration, low-fidelity conceptual travelogues and sketch diaries, and paintings that deal with Carib, Black, and African cultural dress, hair and dance.  David is an emerginf artist with an international exhibition and publication record.  His work has appeared in 15 group, 3 solo and 3 collaborative shows.  The most recent work, Absurdly Spectacular, will be exhibited in the month of January, 2012 at Passages Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio (Brame & Kokai 2012).  His most recent publication, "Don't Forget To Check Your Comics", (Brame, Kolin, Chung, Nyyhof-Young, 2011) was associated with a series of health-related comic books made in collaboration with researchers from Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital.  He has also presented a paper "Ain't Nothing Comic About It! Educating Young Men About Testicular Cancer: A Research Development Project", at the International Association for Media & Communication Research Conference (Brame 2010).

Alice Chu, Professor

MA Arts, Columbia University

Dip. Ed. Fine Arts, McGill University

BFA Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University

Alice is a designer whose specializations are colour pedagogy and colour/design trend forecasting.  She has worked as a design editor Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and New York City.  She was the Chairperson of the Graphic Design Department, Dawson College of Montreal from 1974 to 1977; Board Director of the Canadian Society for Colour from 1983 to 1987; Board Director of the Colour Marketing Group International from 2001 to 2003, and has been a member of Registered Graphic Designers of Canada since 1978.  As a professor of Colour and Design at Ryerson University, she was named Ryerson's Professor of the year in 1989 and the Popular Profs of Ryerson by MacLean Magazine in 2006.  She was the recipient of the CMG International Colour Link Award, and was inducted in 1977 to the Who's Who in Canadian Women.  

Recent Research:  Chu, A.I., Rahman, O., & Mandal, S., A Cross-Cultural Study of the Relationships Between Colours & Products; Proceeding, AIC 2011 Conference 7-10 June 2011.  Rahman, O., & Chu, A.I., A Study of Product Typology and Product Attributes: Low Involvement Versus High Involvement.  Proceeding, Endless End - The 9th Internationall European Academy of Design Conference, 4-7 May, 2011.  Chu, A.I., & Rahman, O., Going Green, Are You Ready, Proceeding, 2010 IFFITI Conference.   

Lucia S. Dell'Agnese, Professor & Associate Chair

MA, Cornell University

Diploma, Fashion Design, Ryerson Polytechnical Institute   

Upon receiving her degree in Fashion Design in 1977, Lucia worked extensively in the Toronto fashion industry in the areas of design and production.  A Master's Degree specializing in Apparel Design was completed in 1986.  Since 1988 Lucia has been a professor in the School of Fashion at Ryerson University, teaching a wide range of courses pertaining to apparel design, collection development and apparel production management.  Design projects have included researching and designing the academic ceremonial gowns required for the offices of the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, and Honourary Degree recipients at Ryerson University.  Research areas have included anthropometrics and sizing systems used in women's apparel.  Areas of recent investigation have been in the area of wearable technology.  Recent research projects incorporating technology into apparel have included the design and develpoment of work apparel for urban search and rescue dogs, and the develpoment of a garment for infants with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  

Lu Ann Lafrenz, Associate Professor

BS, Iowa State University

MS, PhD, Ohio State University

Dr. Lafrenz's research interests lie in the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning.  In her recent past she was a Learning & Teaching Faculty Associate for the Faculty of Communication & Design (FCAD) where she determined strategic goals, initiatives and resources needed to achieve teaching and learning excellence within FCAD.  Her publications and paper presentations at Fashion and Teaching and Learning conferences have included topics such as Reflective Practice, Self Directed Learning, Team Skills, Curriculum Development, Problem-Based Learning, Experiential Learning, and the First Year Experience.  Identifying Canadian fashion entrepeneurs and connecting them with our students in first year has been important in both her teaching and research.  Her paper, "Entrepeneur Interviews: Experiential Learning for First Year Fashion Students", was chosen for the Paper of Distinction Award in the Professional/General Track of the 2010 International Textiles & Apparel Association (ITAA) annual conference.  As a teacher of two required first year courses her research interests include aspects of the First Year Experience.  She has been the school's advocate for the fashion group mentoring pilot program, connecting senior students to help new students transition into university.  Along with fashion's mentoring facilitator Dr. lafrenz presented papers related to the fashion pilot program at the 2010 annual conferences for the Society for Teaching & Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) and the Canadian Association of College & University Student Services (CACUSS).  This First Year Experience has expanded to include connecting with academic programs in residence.  Dr. Lafrenz's PhD was in Training & Development and her position prior to teaching at Ryerson was a training coordinator for Sunworthy Wallcoverings.  During that work experience she was certified as an industry consultant to conduct team and leadership training.  An outgrowth of this work experience were a number of papers surrounding the third year design course's team skills segment where students work in teams of five to create menswear mini-collections.  Dr. Lafrenz co-authored two journal articles, "Fostering Self-Directed Learners Through Competitions" and "The Role of Reflective Practice in Integrating Creativity in a Fashion Design Curriculum".  On the board of Fashion Takes Action, her latest research thrust is related to sustainable fashion and how sustainability can be further embedded into the curriculum.    

Grahame Lynch, Associate Professor

MDes - Inclusive Design, OCAD University (current)

MFA, University of Guelph

BFA, University of Windsor

Grahame Lynch has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Guelph where he concentrated in the areas of Extended Media & Installation.  Currently he is pursuing a Master of Design in Inclusive Design at OCAD University. Through the use of accessible information and communication technologies, he is currently working on developing operational methods for documenting, publishing and communicating about artwork in a nuanced manner and in ways that address limits placed on the experience of artwork encountered by disabled individuals and extended audiences alike. Grahame has recently exhibited his artwork in a solo shows at the Oresman Gallery at the Brown Centre for Fine Arts in Northampton, MA and the Thames Art Gallery in Chatham, Ontario.  Upcoming solo exhibits include the Esplanade Gallery in Medicine Hat,  WKP Kennedy Gallery in North Bay and the Station Gallery in Whitby.  He was a visiting artist at Smith College in Northampton and has presented his work at TypeCon.

Alison Matthews-David, Assistant Professor

BA, McGill University

PhD, Stanford University

Dr. Matthews David received her doctorate from Stanford University in 2002 for a thesis on tailoring in 19th century Paris.  Her research deals with material culture, class and gender.  She has published in a variety of journals and books, including Fashion Theory, The Journal of Victorian Literature and Culture and Shoes: From Sandals to Sneakers.  Her publications include pieces on WWI camouflage and fashion, synthetic dyes and the British aesthetic movement, Victorian riding habits and the fashionable horsewoman, tailoring and the standardized male body, military uniforms and footwear and the founding of Vogue Magazine in Gilded Age America.  In 2004 she was awarded the Veronika Gervers Fellowship in Costume and Textile History for "Troubling Vision: Camouflage, Colour and Fashionable Dress, 1912-25", held at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.  She regularly gives conference papers, most recently on a panel she chaired at the 2010 Costume Society of America Conference entitled "The Graveyard of Fashion: Toward an Archaeology of the Wardrobe".  In 2010 she was awarded a Standard Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada for her book project entitled Fashion Victims: Clothing and Health in Historical Perspective (Berg Publishers).  The book examines the intersections between dress and medical histories and explores the theme of clothing causing bodily harm to both its makers and wearers.  As part of this project she will co-curate an exhibition with Elizabeth Semmelhack, Senior Curator at the Bata Shoe Museum.  The exhibit, entitled Chemical Dependency, explores toxins used to dye, tan, and maintain leather footwear in the 19th century.  

Recent Research: "Mercurial Styles, Persistent Toxins: Materiality, 'Mad' Hatters and Mercury Poisoning in the Felt Hatting Trade", Russian Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture, 21: (Autumn 2011): 13-38; "Fashions Chameleons: Camouflage, Conspicuousness and Gendered Display during WWI", in The Spaces and Places of Fashion, ed. John Potvin, (Routledge 2009), 89-107; "Made to Measure? Tailoring and the 'Normal" Body in 19th century France", in Histories of the Normal and the Abnormal: Social and Cultural Histories of Norms and Normativity, Routledge Studies in the Social History of Medicine, ed. Waltraud Ernst (London: Routledge, 2007) 142-164.

Joseph Medaglia, Assistant Professor

MA, Communication & Culture, Ryerson/York University

BFA, Visual Arts, York University

Joseph teached courses at the undergraduate and graduate level including visual communication design, web design, fashion promotion and interactive media.  He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts specializing in Visual Art from York University where he studied graphic design, new media and sculpture.  After working professionally as a graphic designer, he decided to pursue a Master of Arts in Communication & Culture, a joint program between Ryerson and York University.  During his graduate studies, he developed a bosy of research and creative work that examines the relationship between gay identity, visibility, representation and the body.  His creative work confronts these issues and employs methods of experimental video, costume, interactive design, and more recently, electronics and physical computing.  He is currently working on a project entitled "Embracing the Monster" that appropriates the symbol of the monster as prosthesis for the gay body, in the construction of an interactive costume and series of experimental videos.  He is also interested in the role of the internet in fostering identity formation and enabling community for LGBT subjects.  

Recent Research: RE:FORM: Becoming Visible (experimental video and statement).  InTensions Journal, Issue 3.0, published by Fine Arts Cultural Studies at York University, Fall 2009 www.yorku.ca/intent.  Papers and creative work presented at academic conferences: (In)Visible: Constructing Gay Visibility, Canadian Association of American Studies (CAAS) Conference; The Americas: Drawing the Lines, co-sponsored by McGill University, Concordia University and the Unversite du Quebec, Montreal 2007; Explorations in Deconstructing/Reconstructing Form: Typography, Signs, Symbols and Architecture.  Logo Cities: An International Symposium on Signage, Branding, and Lettering in Public Space, Concordia University, Montreal, 2007.

Bernie Murray, Associate Professor

MEd, Brock University

BEd, Brock University

Diploma, Creative Fashion Design, George Brown College

Bernie is an associate professor in the School of Fashion at Ryerson University.  She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto.  Bernie's research agenda includes: creativity: examining the process, inspiration, product, motivation, and the environment; design process; draping; corsetry; and teaching and learning: studio based pedagogy and reflective practice.  Courses taught include Research Methods, Draping, 4th Year Senior Project, Block Development, Menswear Pattern Drafting, and Computer Aided Design (CAD) for Apparel Design.  Professional associations include: International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA), International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI), and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE).  Bernie has over 22 years of fashion industry experience working in design and production.

 RECENT RESEARCH: Murray, B. (2011), Focus on Process: Creative Development and Experience in Studio-Based Learning Environments. Paper and oral presentation at the 32nd Annual Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice, annual international conference, Dayton, OH, USA; Murray, B. (2011), Learning Experiences of Imagination and Play in a Studio Class: Changing the Design Process to Promote Creativity and innovation. Presentation at The Dean’s Conference, OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Murray, B. (2011), Student’s Perceptions and Experiences of Creativity and the Learning Environment in a Design Studio. Presentation at The Dean’s Conference, OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Henry Navarro, Assistant Professor

BFA, Wilfredo Lam Professional Arts School

MFA, Superior Institute of Art

Henry Navarro is a fashion designer, artist and educator specializing in contemporary and conceptual fashion, and has shown his work in Spain, Italy, the United States, Canada and Cuba. Previously he was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Fashion Design program at the University of Cincinnati, and has also taught at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, California College of the Arts, and the Academy of Art University, and at the San Alejandro Fine Arts Academy in Havana, Cuba (where he co-chaired the Ceramics Department). His most recent papers include; ‘Subversion in White: Experimentation and Ceremony in Conceptual Wedding Fashion,’ presented at the 2011 Popular Culture Association and American Popular Culture Annual Conference, ‘Africana: Race, Class and Politics in American Fashion,’ presented at the ‘Globalizing Culture Conference,’ organized by the German Historical Institute in Washington in 2011, and ‘Berlin Style: Impact of Weimar Modernism on the Philosophy and aesthetics of Contemporary Fashion Design in Berlin,’ presented at the National Endowment for the Humanities 2010 Summer Seminar at Stanford University.

Osmud Rahman, Assistant Professor

Higher Diploma in Fashion and Clothing Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

MDes, Royal College of Art

Prior to Ryerson, Osmud worked in the United States as a professor for three years.  During that time, he taught fashion design, fashion promotion and computer design courses in both graduate and undergraduate levels.  Prior to that, he worked in the fashion industry almost 15 years in different cities including Montreal, Toronto and Hong Kong.  Osmud Rahman’s research interests lie in the areas of fashion consumption, design and culture. Over the last few years, he has written and disseminated a number of research projects including: consumers’ aspirations and perceptions of denim jeans, a study of young consumers’ shopping attitudes toward pyjamas; tripartite relationships between designer, consumer and product; and fashion design in the digital age. Apart from the studies of fashion design and consumption, Osmud is also interested in fashion subculture. His recent research on Lolita and Cosplay has led him to publish “Lolita – Imaginative Self and Elusive Consumption” and “Cosplay – Imaginative Self and Performing Identity” in Fashion Theory. Currently, he is working on several cross-cultural collaborative projects on consumer behavior and fashion consumption of high-involvement and low-involvement apparel products. He has been a reviewer for Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management and International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education.

RECENT RESEARCH: Rahman, O., Liu, W.-S., Lam, E. and Chan, M.-T. (2011), “Lolita: Imaginative self and elusive consumption”, Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 7-28; Rahman, O., Yan, J. and Liu, W.-S. (2010), “Evaluative criteria of denim jeans: A cross-national study of functional and aesthetic aspects”, The Design Journal, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 291-311; Rahman, O., Zhu, X. and Liu W.-S., (2008), “A study of the pyjamas purchasing behaviour of Chinese consumers in Hangzhou, China”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 217-231.

Sandra Tullio-Pow, Associate Professor/Program Director MA Fashion

Dip, BAA, Ryerson University

MEd. Brock University

Sandra Tullio-Pow is an associate professor in the School of Fashion, teaching in the areas of textiles, fashion design, pattern drafting and apparel construction.  She has designed women’s sportswear and bridal wear as well as the official maternity uniform for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and is a consultant to various policing agencies on uniform design and garment specifications. Currently a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, she is passionate about inclusive and functional design, gravitating to projects where design can positively impact people’s lives.  Fashion runways present glamorous clothing options and traditional versions of beauty that are not universally attainable in the real world.  Undeniably, the psychology of fashion enhances social identity and the relationship between looking good and feeling better.   Recent research has concentrated on inventing clothing for extraordinary groups, specifically:  sleepwear designed for breast cancer survivors, clothing and accessories for women with lymphedema and people with low vision as well as therapeutic garments for autistic infants, improving quality of life for those with unique body shapes and special needs by engineering clothing solutions that combine both function and fashion.

RECENT RESEARCH: Tullio-Pow  S, Schaefer K, Zhu R, Kolenchenko O, & Nyhof-Young J (2011).  Sweet dreams: Needs assessment and prototype design of post-mastectomy sleepwear.  Include 2011 Proceedings:  The Role of Inclusive Design in Making Social Innovation Happen, 10 pages, ISBN 978-1-907342-29-5;  Yu H & Tullio-Pow S (2011). Inclusive Retailer: Visually Impaired Shoppers’ Perceptions and Preferences. Include 2011 Proceedings:  The Role of Inclusive Design in Making Social Innovation Happen. 10 pages, ISBN 978-1-907342-29-5; Tullio-Pow S. (2006).  Use of Media:  Learning Preference and Satisfaction.  The International Journal of the Arts in Society. Volume 21 (2), pg. 69-75.

Kimberly Wahl, Assistant Professor

BA, BFA, York University

MA, University of Western Ontario

PhD, Queen's University

Dr. Kimberly Wahl holds a PhD in Art History from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where her dissertation focused on late nineteenth-century Aesthetic Dress in the context of British visual culture and Aestheticism.  Her current area of research focuses on the intersections between academic Feminism and the histories and theories of fashion, from the late nineteenth century to the present.  She has published on fashion, dress reform and Aestheticism as well as selected topics in fashion photography and the print culture of the nineteenth century. 

Recent Research: Wahl, Kimberly. “A Domesticated Exoticism: Fashioning Gender in Nineteenth-Century British Tea Gowns,” in Cultures of Femininity in Modern Fashion, edited by Ilya Parkins and Elizabeth M. Sheehan, 45-70. University Press of New England, 2011; Wahl, Kimberly, and Alison Matthews David.  “‘Matthew Cuthbert Insists on Puffed Sleeves’: Ambivalence Towards Fashion in Anne of Green Gables,” in Anne of Green Gables: New Directions at 100,  edited by Irene Gammel and Benjamin Lefebvre, 35-49. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010; Wahl, Kimberly. “Commercial Art Form or Artful Commerce? Photography and the Subversive Potential of the ‘Fashionable’ Body in Visual Culture.” Descant—Special Issue on Fashion, 138 (Fall 2007): 171-185.

Ryerson University School of Fashion Adjunct Faculty

Alex Ferworn: Adjunct Professor

BA, Ryerson University

MSc, University of Guelph

PhD, University of Waterloo

Alex Ferworn is one of the founding members of this fashion program. He is a Professor of Computer Science at Ryerson where he has been teaching since 1996. He received his PhD from the University of Waterloo, his MSc from the University of Guelph and his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Ryerson. Before joining Ryerson, he worked for various telecommunication companies and was a member of the Canadian Forces Reserve for fourteen years.  He has collaborated for many years with members of the School of Fashion.  His research interests are broadly related to computational public safety and include functional work apparel and its relationship to computational technology. Previous collaborations with Prof. Dell'Agnese have resulted in canine work apparel for Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) dogs. More about this project can be found at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2009/06/24/tech-dog-rescue-technology-award-ferworn-ryerson-ge-itac-hero.htm.  His research lab can be found at: www.ncart.scs.ryerson.ca

Irene Gammel, Adjunct Professor

PhD, English, McMaster University

MA, English, McMaster University

MA English, French, Universitat des Saarlandes

I  I     Irene Gammel is Professor of English and holds the Canada Research Chair in Modern Literature and Culture at Ryerson University, Toronto. She is also the director of the Modern Literature and Culture Research Centre, which is dedicated to the preservation and study of early twentieth-century modern texts and artifacts and involves many Fashion students. She is the author and editor of eleven books, including the internationally-acclaimed Baroness Elsa: Gender, Dada and Everyday Modernity: A Cultural Biography (MIT Press, 2002) and most recently (with Suzanne Zelazo) Body Sweats: The Uncensored Writings by Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (MIT Press 2011). Irene Gammel is well-known for her scholarship on gender, identity, and modernism. Her research has helped uncover the earliest roots of modern and feminist performance art, contributed to the consolidation of L.M. Montgomery Studies as an academic field, and claimed women’s confessional discourses as a sub-discipline of autobiographical studies. She supervises many graduate students on topics related to identity, fashion, body, performance and literature.  Irene has served as president of the Canadian Comparative Literature Association, editorial board member of Canadian Literature, co-chair of the L.M. Montgomery Institute, vice-president of the Canadian Comparative Literature Association, and director of Women's Studies at UPEI.  She has also served as a visiting scholar at the Centre for Comparative Literature and Department of English at the University of Toronto (Spring 2004), as well as visiting professor at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat Jena and Erfurt Universitat in Germany (Spring 2001).  In 2009, she was elected a member of the Royal Society of Canada.  For more detail, visit www.ryerson.ca/mlc.    

        RECENT RESEARCH: Ed. (with Suzanne Zelao), Body Sweats: The Uncensored Writings by Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 2011; Ed. (with Suzanne Zelao), Crystal Flowers: The Poetry of Florine Stettheimer. Toronto: BookThug, 2010; Ed.(with Benjamin Lefebvre). Anne’s World: A New Century of Anne of Green Gables. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009; Ed., trans. Mein Mund ist lüstern / I Got Lusting Palate: Dada Verse von Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. Berlin: Ebersbach, 2005.

Alexandra Palmer, Adjunct Professor

BA, University of Toronto

MA, Costume and Textiles, New York University

PhD, Design History, Brighton University

Dr. Alexandra Palmer is the Nora E. Vaughan Senior Curator, Textiles & Costume at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). She received her BA in Art History from the University of Toronto (1979); her MA in Costume and Textiles from New York University, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1981); and her PhD in Design History from the University of Brighton (1994).  While studying in New York in the 1980s, Dr. Palmer designed and created fashions and hats that she sold to boutiques such as Patricia Field, before returning to teaching, curating, and writing on fashion history.  She was Assistant Professor in Art History at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where she taught craft and design history and theory (1995-6).  In 1996, she joined the ROM were she is responsible for the collection of western fashionable dress and textiles and has curated several exhibitions including Elite Elegance: Couture Fashion in the 1950s (2003). Dr. Palmer is also Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Fine Art.  Alexandra Palmer has contributed to international museum catalogues, including The Golden Age: Haute Couture 1947 - 1957, Victoria & Albert Museum (2007); RRRIPP!! Paper Fashion, Benaki Museum (2007); Christian Dior et le Monde, Musée Dior à Granville (2006); and Un Secolo di Moda, Villa Medici (2003). She has edited and authored chapters in Old Clothes, New Looks: Second Hand Fashion (2005), and Fashion: A Canadian Perspective (2004). She has contributed to The Oxford Companion to Canadian History (2004) and to a wide range of scholarly books including La Moda in Canada (2008), Exploring Contemporary Craft, History, Theory & Critical Writing (2002), Framing Our Past: Constructing Canadian Women’s History in the Twentieth Century (2001), and The Culture of Sewing: Gender, Consumption and Home Dressmaking (1999). Dr. Palmer is also Exhibition Editor for the Journal of Fashion Theory. Her book Couture & Commerce: The Transatlantic Fashion Trade in the 1950s (2001) won a Clio Award for Ontario history. Her most recent book, Dior: A New Look, A New Enterprise 1947 – 57, V&A Publications (2009) has been awarded the 2010 Millia Davenport Publication Award, sponsored by the Costume Society of America. Her current research projects investigate early 20^th century haute couture and the extended wear of clothing 18-21^st centuries.  Paper Fashion, Benaki Museum (2007); Christian Dior et le Monde, Musée Dior à Granville (2006); and Un Secolo di Moda, Villa Medici (2003). She has edited and authored chapters in Old Clothes, New Looks: Second Hand Fashion (2005), and Fashion: A Canadian Perspective (2004). She has contributed to The Oxford Companion to Canadian History (2004) and to a wide range of scholarly books including La Moda in Canada (2008).

Elizabeth Semmelhack, Adjunct Professor

MA, Washington University

MA, Tufts University

BA, Bennington College

Elizabeth Semmelhack is the Senior Curator of the BAta Shoe Museum as well as an independent scholar and author whose work focuses on the construction of gender in relation to dress with a particular focus on the history of elevating footwear.  She has curated numerous exhibitions and is the author of a number of books and essays including: On a Pedestal: Renaissance Chopines and Baroque Heels (Bata Shoe Museum, 2009); Heights of Fashion: A History of the Elevated Shoe (Periscope Press, 2008); A Delicate Balance: Women, Power and the High Heel in Shoes, A History  From Sandals to Sneakers (Berg, 2006).  She is currently working on the essay "On Display: Civil Identities, Material Wealth and Chopines in Early Modern Valencia and Venice" for the upcoming book Shaping Objects: Art, Materials Making and Meanings (2012), her forthcoming exhibition and catalogue Roger Vivier: Process to Perfection, and her book Shoe (reaktion Press, 2013).  Elizabeth is also working as a co-investigator with Ryerson professor Alison Matthews-David on a SSHRC funded research project "Fashion Victims: Clothing and Health in Historical Perspective", concerning the invention and use of new chemicals in creation of footwear in the 19th century with the goal of curating an exhibition titled Chemical Dependency: Leather Workers, Black Boots and the Alchemy of Chemicals in 19th century Footwear.  She has been a consultant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, is frequent lecturer and has been widely quoted in media such as the New York Times, Wall Street Hournal and the Washington Post.

Joyce Nyhouf-Young, Adjunct Professor

Ph.D., University of Toronto

MSc, university of Guelph

BSc, University of Toronto

Dr. Nyhouf-Young is a social scientist with a PhD in Curriculum teaching & Learning from the Ontario institue for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.  Between 1999 and 2011, Dr. Nyhouf-Young was a research scientist in the Survivorship Program at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and faculty member in the Department of Radiation Oncology.  Her research with PMH focuses on program development and evaluation in cancer patient education and survuvorship, as well as health professional education.  It aims to help patients and healthcare providers achieve the best possible patient support and treatment outcomes.  Dr. Nyhouf-Young is currently an Associate Professor of family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, a research coordinator at the Wightman Berris Academy for the second year Determinants of Community Health (DOCH2) course for undergraduate medical students, and a Curriculum Evaluation Coordinator in the undergraduate medical program at the University of Toronto.  She is also an adjunct professor in the School of Fashion, Ryerson University.  Her collaboration with Sandra Tullio-Pow involves patient centred research into functional and inclusive clothing design, specifically designing clothing that meets the needs of female breast cancer survivors dealing with mastectomies and lymphedema, and the medical and therapeutic use of clothing to improve psycho-social health and quality of life.  Her work with David Brame uses comic books to promote self-examination for testicular cancer among young men.  Dr. Nyhouf-Young is also cross appointed to the Institute of Medical Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine and the Department of Theory and Policy Studies at OISE/UT.  

Recent Research: Wilijer, D., Urowitz S., Frasca E., Nyhouf-Young J., Secord S., Walton T., Catton P., Wiljer D, Urowitz S, Frasca E, Nyhof-Young J, Secord S, Walton T, Catton P.  The Role of a Clinician-Led Reflective Interview on Improving Self-Efficacy in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Study. J Cancer Educ. 2010 Apr 10. [Epub ahead of print]

MacCulloch R, Nyhof-Young J, Nicholas D, Donaldson S, Wright JG. Development of an online information and support resource for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients considering surgery: perspectives of health care providers.  Scoliosis 2010 June 29; 5:13; http://www.scoliosisjournal.com/content/5/1/13