Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program
Tasha Lewis
“I use this project to help students experience the power of the fashion industry to create value as well as opportunity for social change and meaningful economic development.”
A 2017-18 Engaged Faculty Fellow, Tasha Lewis is an assistant professor in the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design in the College of Human Ecology. In her course, Global Fashion Management, students explore social and economic impact of producing ethical fashion. Read her faculty profile for more information.
About the Project
Lewis’s course, Global Fashion Management, includes a semester-long project with Global Goods Partners, a nonprofit organization that sells fair trade, handcrafted products by women artisans. As an Engaged Faculty Fellow, Lewis is expanding the impact and organization of the partnership by analyzing factors that affect producers’ ability to effectively participate in the textile, apparel and accessories industry and identifying the human, natural and financial resources required to support ethically made products.
In Her Own Words
I use this project to help students experience the power of the fashion industry to create value as well as opportunity for social change and meaningful economic development. In addition to the practical aspects of the project, students are asked to further research topics of social responsibility and ethics in fashion and apply them to their project findings. Our community partner benefits through their ability to support artisan producers with knowledge of new strategies for product development and target consumer values.
OEI Grants
Academic Venture Fund Supplemental Grants: The Future of Fibers May Be Local
Engaged Opportunity Grant: Course of Trade
Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program
A yearlong cohort program in which faculty dive deep into the theory and practice of community-engaged learning; meet monthly to discuss readings, share projects and workshop challenges; and help transform what it means to teach at Cornell