The Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies is becoming increasingly international, thanks to a two-year, $165,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund its Fashion International and Business Education Response (FIBER) Project.

The FIBER Project is a two-pronged effort. Faculty, through research and interaction with the fashion industry and partners abroad in selected countries, will develop eight international learning modules to incorporate in undergraduate courses and programs.

Under the grant, faculty members also will create industry outreach programs, including an online FIBER Journal and workshop programs for manufacturing and retail businesses in the industry to inform them about issues related to the internationalization of the apparel industry.

“This is a highly competitive grant, and the department is proud to have been selected,” says Hye-Shin Kim, associate professor and project director.

“As the apparel industry becomes increasingly globalized, our students will be traveling and interacting with associates and companies overseas during their careers, and meeting the international learning goals of their program is an important component of their education.”

The FIBER Project is already under way, Kim says, with faculty members who are committed to researching and studying the apparel industry in five designated countries in the process of submitting their plans for travel. The five countries of focus are India, Thailand, Guatemala, China and Italy.

“We have partners and connections, such as universities and industry organizations in these countries,” Kim says. “The countries are located in different parts of the world and in different stages of development in the apparel industry, ranging from the young fashion industry in Guatemala to the well-established fashion industry of Italy.”

The department already has study-abroad programs in such places as Paris and East Asia but will develop new ones through the grant in other international markets.

The grant also will support opportunities for service-learning projects with an international component for students.

In addition, faculty will hold industry seminars and workshops in cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., for small to medium-sized apparel businesses and other fashion industry professionals. Faculty members will partner with the Delaware World Trade Center, Delaware Small Business Development Center, Fashion Group International and National Retail Federation to offer these seminars.

The free, online FIBER Journal, scheduled to come out twice a year beginning in December, will supplement this effort. The journal will offer briefs on various international markets, publish contributions by industry professionals, showcase faculty research and provide information on events and educational opportunities of interest to industry professionals.

The team that developed the project includes Kim; Marsha Dickson, department chairperson; Jo Kallal, professor; Sharron Lennon, Irma Ayres Professor of Fashion and Apparel Studies; and George Irvine, program specialist in the Division of Professional and Continuing Studies and the Center for International Studies. In addition,

Kathy Pusecker, outcomes assessment analyst in the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, will guide the assessment and evaluation of the project.