Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC3100: The Politics of Fashion

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Aims

This module aims to introduce and analyze the political implications of interdisciplinary research on global fashion, considering high-end designer fashion, local independent designers, and global systems of production and consumption. Through this module, you will engage the burgeoning theoretical and empirical research on the political sovereignties, subjectivities, economies, ecologies, and geographies that we enact and contest when we participate in the world of fashion. This module will enable you to analyze critically everyday instantiations of fashion as exemplary of broader challenges in contemporary politics and thus to develop crucial strengths in political analysis across a diverse range of theoretical frameworks and practical contexts.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Describe and critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of central definitions of ‘politics’ developed in fashion research
2. Articulate verbally, creatively, and in writing accurate and insightful accounts of the connections between everyday practices of fashion and global configurations of political relationships.
3. Analyze a particular site of fashion practice as a site of politics, with clear and coherent definitions of key terms and effective integration of theoretical literature.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Synthesize and critically assess a defined field of political research.
5. Demonstrate through oral and written course work the ability to extend and revise political concepts to account for new fields of theoretical and empirical research.
6. Engage effectively with interdisciplinary research and articulate the significance of this work for analyses of contemporary political life.
Personal and Key Skills7. Work independently and in groups to engage in spontaneous discussion and defence of arguments in class, to prepare presentations for class discussion, and to contribute to a productive classroom.
8. Work independently to research, formulate, write, and present critical analyses that engage a complex mix of theoretical and empirical content.
9. Research, apply, and present your analyses through alternative practices of aesthetic knowledge creation, such as collage, curation, video, or photography.
10. Develop and extend a self-reflexive academic practice that is both independent and collaborative, including: assessing strengths and weaknesses, identifying goals and work plans, integrating feedback, and envisioning future work paths.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics.

 

The Political World of Fashion:

  • What is ‘Fashion’?
  • Politics, pop culture, and aesthetics
  • Rethinking fashion as political site and political method

 

Approaches to the Politics of Fashion:

  • The International Politics of Fashion
  • Political Economies of Fashion
  • Fashioning Rural/Urban Political Geographies
  • Gender, Bodies, and Fashion
  • Politics of Fashion Curation
  • Politics of Fashion Sustainability

 

Sites of Fashion Politics:

  • Fashion Shows and the Fashion Calendar
  • The Fashion Protest: fashionrevolution.org
  • Student-led research sites and case studies

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching 2211 x 2 hour Students will be given guided opportunities to initiate and lead seminar discussions. Students will be expected to engage with their peers and provide constructive feedback on occasion.
Guided Independent Study43Private study – students are expected to read suggested texts and make notes prior to seminar sessions.
Guided Independent Study85Assessment reading, preparation and writing and writing: 10 hours to formative, peer review, and self-assessment activities 50 hours to independent research, reading, and writing 20 hours to creative research practice 5 hours to presentation preparation

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

 

Fashion Revolution: www.fashionrevolution.org

Business of Fashion: www.businessoffashion.com

Fashion Week Online: http://fashionweekonline.com