Weill Medical College of Cornell University · Courses
FSAD
69 courses with the subject FSAD, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
FSAD 1111Success in FSAD1
This course facilitates planning your experience in the College of Human Ecology and the Department of Human Centered Design as a Fashion Design and Management or Fiber Science major. Explore academic and extracurricular options within the department and across the university. The course is designed to help you set goals, plan for your time as an undergraduate, identify resources to help you achieve your goals, and allow you to get to know your peers in all FSAD majors.
This course balances theoretical and studio approaches in the design and two-dimensional representation of fashion. Lectures and readings accompany practical design exercises such as trend forecasting and collection development throughout the three-week semester. Students will explore various media and techniques to practice new skills, while creating a professional portfolio based on their individual design aesthetic. Students will be introduced to digital fashion design techniques and given access to online and design tools, such as Adobe Creative Suite, to aid in their development of a capsule collection. Course activities will include lectures and tutorials, readings, and assignments. This class does not substitute or fulfill any FSAD major or minor requirements.
Introduces graphic software programs (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Clo3d, and Inventor) to develop original designs. Class activities and projects include textile design, technical flat drawing design, digitized fashion illustration, 3D virtual fashion design, into to 3D modeling, and story board presentation. Projects include both individual work and group work.
This foundational course is intended for students with demonstrable drawing skills. It introduces traditional and experimental approaches to visualizing the fashioned body and its expressive extensions. Fashion graphics are examined as essential communicative tools within the fashion development process.
This course approaches drawing as an essential skill for fashion designers. Through drawing we engage in a process of inquiry with the subjects of our drawings. We use the drawing process to examine, develop, and reconfigure our ideas and we use drawing to communicate our ideas to others. This studio course will employ a variety of media and techniques for fashion drawing. Class time will be spent drawing from life, learning fashion-specific drawing techniques, and engaging in discussions and critiques. Sketchbook research and design iteration for fashion design will be developed through weekly assignments. Prior drawing experience is not required to take this course.
Introduction to the visual arts and design that explores aesthetic and cross-cultural dimensions of fashion as a visual, material, and embodied practice. Lectures emphasize the intersections between fashion, art, and design through slide presentations, historical artifacts from the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, hands-on activities, and discussions. We consider social, cultural, political, aesthetic, scientific, economic, and historical aspects of fashion design, visual expression, and everyday embodied dressing.
This course introduces the properties and performance of textile materials and processes for FSAD majors and provides a general overview of the textile industry from a scientific perspective. Focus is on materials used in apparel and home furnishing markets. This course may also be used to fill a science requirement for non-FSAD majors in Human Ecology. Chemistry and mechanics of typical materials and processes used in the textile industry will be addressed with emphasis placed on the relationship between the materials and processes used and the final properties of the fabric.
This laboratory provides an opportunity for investigation of the physical and chemical structure and properties of fibers and yarns commonly used in apparel and home furnishing applications. Students completing this class will have a strong understanding of fiber and yarn structure, the differences between common fiber and yarn types and will know techniques for positive identification of textile fibers.
This course covers the principles of garment assembly and flat-patternmaking for apparel design, as well as the use of mass production equipment and methods to analyze, develop, and assemble garments. Studio projects include an emphasis on innovative design and high-quality garment assembly techniques for upscale markets.
This course is an introduction to fashion, beauty and trends and their integral relationship throughout history. Students will learn and explore various aspects of contemporary fashion phenomena, such as fashion collaborations, media-effects on body image, the impact of new technologies on fashion and lifestyle trends, and other significant issues of society manifest in fashion of the 20th and 21st centuries.
This course is an overview of the fashion supply chain with emphasis on the U.S. apparel industry. Students will learn key concepts for managing the development, marketing, and distribution of fashion products including consumer behavior, trend forecasting, brand management, merchandise planning, and omnichannel distribution.
This course provides a basic understanding of how fabrics are formed and the relationship between fabric structure and fabric performance. Students completing this class will have a strong understanding of common fabric structures, be able to identify fabric structure visually and appreciate the relationship between fabric construction and performance in apparel and other end uses.
In this studio course we examine the process of creating a three-dimensional garment from the two-dimensional fabric. The principles and processes of draping, advanced flat-pattern making, and industrial construction methods using a variety of materials are investigated through project work. Assigned problems require students to make judgments regarding the design process, the nature of materials, body structure, function, and fashion.
FSAD 2650Creative Patternmaking for Fashion Design3.5
The goal of this apparel studio course is to expand student confidence and competencies in flat pattern analysis, design, and fitting techniques. In this course, students learn the basic principles and methods of 2D flat patternmaking as well as creative patternmaking concepts. Exercises, assignments, and projects are designed to teach the knowledge and skills needed to create well-balanced and quality patterns for 3D garment designs. 2D/3D CAD technology for patternmaking and fit testing is introduced.
FSAD 2660Activewear Design and Product Development3
Project-based course in which students explore the relationship between technology and design, and the impact of production issues on manufactured activewear. Students learn computer-aided patternmaking, activewear construction methods, manufacturing technologies, communication of technical details, flats, specifications, and costing of garments. Designs are developed to various stages from conceptual work to full specification of the product and its production details, with a concentration on the iterative design process.
FSAD 3200Global Textile and Apparel Sustainability3
This course explores sustainability in the textile and apparel industries in relation to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals articulated by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Students will engage with industry challenges, practices, and successes in increasing sustainability via guest speakers, case studies, research reports and corporate reports. Aspects of sustainability impacting personal welfare of producers and consumers, environmental impacts and economic potential will be explored.
Studio experience in the surface design of textiles combined with exercises in color theory. Textile projects use techniques such as natural dyes, block printing, silk painting, shibori, silk screen, and embroidery to produce a portfolio of textile designs. Studio work is augmented by lectures on pattern and color theory illustrated by slides and textile examples.
This is a “hands on” class exploring the process of assuring and evaluating sewn product quality at each step of the supply chain, from fiber to consumer. Students will evaluate textiles and garments employing industry standard practices and explore expectations for product performance as well as the influence of fiber and fabric on tested properties.
This course builds on the knowledge of brand management, line development, and marketing from FSAD2310: Fashion Product Management by focusing on the fashion product cycle at the buying, planning, and merchandising stages. Students will learn the steps of the buying process by interpreting retail and consumer data to inform buying decisions and creating buying, assortment, and merchandising plans for a season.
Covers both natural and synthetic fibers commonly used in various engineering, medical, and apparel applications. Topics include the nature of polymer molecules and their syntheses, chemical structures of organic fibers, inorganic fibers, micro-macro structures of fibers, fiber dimensions, environmental effects, and mechanical, optical, thermal, and frictional properties of fibers. Many fiber uses are discussed including composites in aerospace and other structural components, circuit boards, bulletproof vests, sutures, artificial arteries, geotextiles, sporting goods, apparel, and others polymers.
FSAD 3370Introduction to Knit Textile Structure and Design3.5
This course covers the design and creation of weft knit fabrics with a focus on machine-knit fabric structures chosen for desired aesthetic and performance results. Students will learn hand flat machine knitting as well as the basic principles of knit programming. Students are required to develop design ideas, knit swatches and garment panels, and make verbal/visual presentations of their work at regular critiques.
FSAD 3420Engineering Textiles: Integrating the Design and Manufacture of Textile Products3
This course synthesizes and builds on pre-requisite courses. Aspects of textile design for purpose including performance , cost ,production method and sustainability to match end use requirements will be explored.
The focus of this course is to create one-of-a kind and innovative fashion products by using 2D/3D software programs as well as methods (e.g., 3D printing, laser cutting & engraving). During the semester, experimental design samples will be prepared, and students will create full scale garments for their final projects. Readings and discussion topics will explore methods, creativity, and critical thinking.
This course challenges students to create a visual narrative through a collection of fashion-related objects responding to a global design challenge. Students may work across various media, including garments, textiles, accessories, photography, film, digital platforms, visual journalism, and show direction. The goal is to develop expertise in a chosen medium or mode of presentation.
This course is a project-based course in which design students and non-design students collaborate to develop a wearable interface to seek solutions to real-world design challenges through an iterative design process and the use of electronics operated by programming.
For study that predominantly involves library research and independent reading by and individual student or a group of students in a field of FSAD not otherwise provided through course work in the department or elsewhere at the university.
For study that predominantly involves data collection and analysis, or laboratory or studio projects by an individual student or a group of students in a field of FSAD not otherwise provided through course work in the department or elsewhere at the university.
For study that involves both responsible participation in a community setting and reflection on that experience through discussion, reading, and writing by an individual student or a group of students in a field of FSAD not otherwise provided through course work in the department or elsewhere at the university.
Acquaint students with the major issues and problems in international textiles and apparel production to demonstrate how problems in development are addressed in India and Sri Lanka. This course is the lectures/discussions component which establishes the global and regional contexts for sustainable agricultural development and focus on development challenges in Asia through cases in India and Sri Lanka. Students will be automatically enrolled in the field trip component. The field trip consists of a two to three week field study trip designed to provide students with an opportunity to observe the apparel and textile industry abroad to promote interdisciplinary exchange among faculty, staff, students and their international counterparts.
Acquaint students with the major issues and problems in international textiles and apparel production to demonstrate how problems in development are addressed in India and Sri Lanka. The lectures/discussions establish the global and regional contexts for sustainable agricultural development and focus on development challenges in Asia through cases in India and Sri Lanka. Students will be automatically enrolled in the field trip component. This course is the field trip component which consists of a two to three week field study trip designed to provide students with an opportunity to observe the apparel and textile industry abroad to promote interdisciplinary exchange among faculty, staff, students and their international counterparts.
FSAD 4025Design for Change: Imagining Decolonial Futures3
This course explores the role of design in reshaping the world towards social justice and sustainability. Designing for change requires creating different cultural patterns and worldviews - examining taken-for-granted assumptions, narratives, and myths of the hegemonic cultural model (known as Modernity) that limit our capacity to imagine the world differently. As the world is enmeshed in colossal interconnected crises, it seems that imagination has been funneled to two avenues: techno-solutions to the symptoms of the crises and dystopic futures. This course explores two main ideas: a) alternatives are possible, b) the area of design for change would benefit from exchanges with different cultures and knowledge systems. Designing decolonial futures is about weaving together knowledge from multiple cultures, thus recognizing and creating alternatives based on different ways of understanding the world.
FSAD 4190Project Management for Creative Practice3
Project Management for Creative Practice introduces core project management principles through collaborative, studio-based design and curatorial work. Students develop a shared theme into an exhibition or installation, using project tools as design methods to structure collaboration, guide decision-making, and support concept-to-public realization.
This course covers the chemical structure, physical and thermal properties of commercially important synthetic and natural fibers. This course also emphasizes the structure-property relationship of fibers and their end-use. This course focus on chemistry throughout the fiber production and the recycle/upcycle path of textile fibers in the market. The functionalization of fibers, dyeing and finishing processes of textile fibers with experimental component are also included. This course provides understanding of suitable approaches for dyeing and finishing processes of textiles based on their chemistry and investigate more sustainable approaches/processes for the textile industry.
FSAD 4370Knitwear Design and Other Knit Applications3.5
This course covers the design and creation of knit garments and other knit products via a variety of machine-knit shaping techniques. Students will work on hand-flat and electronic software driven machines to program and create shaped knit panels for a variety end-uses. Draping, blocking, and linking techniques will be covered. Students are required to develop design ideas via mood board and sketchbook research and to make verbal/visual presentations of their work at regular critiques. Students will have access to equipment and supplies such as yarn, but should expect to purchase bring in supplies such as drawing materials, scissors, a tape measure and dot grid notebook.
FSAD 4390Introduction to Color Science: Physics and Chemistry of Color3
Color science is key to many industries such as food, automotive, interior and fashion design, electronics, polymer materials, imaging science, medical devices, forensics, cosmetics, photography, architecture, and textiles. Color is often one of the main parameters defining the appeal and sale of many products. Through lectures, demonstrations, and class assignments this course is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of our current understanding of how colors is created and how humans perceive and control color, and it may prepare students for future involvement in color technology as a career as well as in everyday life.
This course is an introduction to the global textile and apparel complex, particularly the roles of global sourcing and supply chain management, and international trade and strategic management of global fashion brands.
FSAD 4444Fiber Science and Apparel Design Futures3
In this course, students will work in cross-disciplinary teams to synthesize knowledge and skills from their prior courses into new ideas and products. Projects will be developed and led by students with faculty mentorship. These projects should build on work from previous courses or projects and allow students to explore multiple aspects of design, performance, use, production, and marketing.
This course covers the development of functional fibers and textiles thru nanotechnology. This course introduces nanomaterials, nano-finishes and nanocoating processes used for functional fibers and textiles. This course also emphasizes the structure-property of the nanofibers and nanotextiles and predict their end-use. Examples of nanotechnological products based on nanofibers and nanotextiles in the market are included. This course also discusses environmental issues and the sustainability aspects regard to nanotechnology used in fibers and textiles. Through lectures, readings, discussion, projects and presentations, this course highlights the role of nanotechnology for the development of functional fibers and textiles.
Designed for students in all FSAD options. Explores the relationship between materials and design with a concentration on the use of innovative textile materials in apparel. Both aesthetic and functional issues are addressed. The course consists of a combination of lectures, discussion of readings, oral reports, a research paper, and project work. The class engages elders from the local community to solve real-life problems using design thinking methodologies.
FSAD 4682Fashion, Politics, and Law in the United States3
This course explores how fashion, law, and politics intersect to shape culture, identity, and power in the United States. Through historical and contemporary case studies, students examine how fashion influences legal precedents, rights, and social movements while gaining practical insight into intellectual property, labor, environmental, and constitutional issues.
FSAD 4700Online Fashion Promotion and Presentation3
This capstone course prepares students for professional pursuits such as job interviews, graduate school applications, and exhibitions. Using three pre-existing stories as a foundation, students will refine and curate their work for submission across three distinct formats: online platforms, print media, and physical exhibitions. Emphasis is placed on contemporary graphic design practices, encompassing fashion design, illustration, photography, styling, and art direction. Instruction includes practical demonstrations and critical feedback aligned with industry standards.
This second course builds on FSAD 3770; students must retain the big ideas and themes developed in the first course. Motifs will be finalized and applied to collections. The primary ambition is to demonstrate a range of expert skills necessary to articulate and operate as creator and director of fashion within the global fashion system. Students will consolidate previous explorations and experiences to create a philosophical position about fashion driven by concept. Objects and scenarios will be completed to a professional standard worthy of exhibition at an international 'young creator' level. Much of the course will be spent developing concepts, proposing ideas and finally fabricating fashion objects that are relevant to fashion markets 6 months hence.
FSAD 4800Ethical Design: Engine of Positive Change3
Design has the power to change how we view and interact with the world which can cause positive or negative impacts. Modern society faces various issues which are all closely related to the ethical aspects of design: humanitarian crises, labor exploitation, injustice in the workplace, loss of diversity, overconsumption, pollution, lack of transparency and pseudo-solutions to name a few. This course will discuss various ethical issues in design that impact individuals, community/society, economies, cultures, social dynamics, and the environment.
The student prepares a thesis, based on independent research, including a research statement, background, approach, results (which could be a description of a creative work), and discussion. The student may also produce creative work. Students make an open presentation of work, either a seminar or an exhibition, and an oral defense with the committee. Interested students should obtain a FSAD Honors Program application form from the FSAD undergraduate office (T57 HEB) and submit the application to the department before the end of the fall semester of junior year. For more information students should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies at fsad-dus@cornell.edu.
This course is a project-based course in which design students and non-design students collaborate to develop a wearable interface to seek solutions to real-world design challenges through an iterative design process and the use of electronics operated by programming.
FSAD 6021Textile and Apparel Production in India II1
This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to observe the apparel and textile industry in India and to promote interdisciplinary exchange among faculty, staff, students and their Indian counterparts. A three week field study trip in January is followed by discussions, written projects, and oral presentations dealing with issues in the apparel and textile industry in the context of social and economic conditions of India.
FSAD 6025Design for Change: Imagining Decolonial Futures3
This course explores the role of design in reshaping the world towards social justice and sustainability. Designing for change requires creating different cultural patterns and worldviews - examining taken-for-granted assumptions, narratives, and myths of the hegemonic cultural model (known as Modernity) that limit our capacity to imagine the world differently. As the world is enmeshed in colossal interconnected crises, it seems that imagination has been funneled to two avenues: techno-solutions to the symptoms of the crises and dystopic futures. This course explores two main ideas: a) alternatives are possible, b) the area of design for change would benefit from exchanges with different cultures and knowledge systems. Designing decolonial futures is about weaving together knowledge from multiple cultures, thus recognizing and creating alternatives based on different ways of understanding the world.
FSAD 6190Project Management for Creative Practice3
Project Management for Creative Practice introduces core project management principles through collaborative, studio-based design and curatorial work. Students develop a shared theme into an exhibition or installation, using project tools as design methods to structure collaboration, guide decision-making, and support concept-to-public realization.
FSAD 6200Physical Properties of Fiber - Forming Polymers and Fibers3
This course covers physical properties of fiber-forming polymers and fibers. This course introduces requirements for fiber formation, and highlights the rubbery, glassy, and crystalline states of polymers and fibers. This course also emphasizes the structure-property relationship in fibrous polymers. This course discusses fiber structure, relationship between chemical structure and physical properties of fibers; thermal and mechanical properties of fibers, and fiber surface properties, and characterization methods. This course also discusses environmental issues, sustainability and the recycling/upcycling/circularity of textile fibers.
FSAD 6219Qualitative Methods in Fashion and Beauty3
In this graduate seminar, students will explore the complex intersections of fashion, beauty, and power from a global and interdisciplinary perspective. Drawing from diverse texts, we will examine how appearance norms and ideals are constructed, negotiated, and contested across various contexts. Throughout the semester, students will collaborate on an interview project, providing an opportunity to integrate theoretical analysis with the development of practical research skills in qualitative methods. In addition to examining current issues in the fashion and beauty industries, students will gain experience with digital qualitative data analysis software needed to conduct rigorous and insightful research in dress, beauty, and fashion studies.
FSAD 6390Introduction to Color Science: Physics and Chemistry of Color3
Color science is key to many industries such as food, automotive, interior and fashion design, electronics, polymer materials, imaging science, medical devices, forensics, cosmetics, photography, architecture, and textiles. Color is often one of the main parameters defining the appeal and sale of many products. Through lectures, demonstrations, and class assignments this course is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of our current understanding of how colors is created and how humans perceive and control color, and it may prepare students for future involvement in color technology as a career as well as in everyday life.
This class is to establish a foundation and baseline understanding of polymers, fibers, yarns, and textiles. This course will focus and ready students to execute experiments as well as practice research presentation skills. Students will become experts in polymer and fiber characterization and analysis and gain software knowledge to ready them for writing per-reviewed research papers.
This class will comprise two main components. The first component will include presentations from FSAD graduate students summarizing their research experiences. Additionally, students will learn how to effectively communicate their research work, learn the structure of academic organizations and their role in their operations. In the second component, concepts and principles related to design will be discussed and utilized to find a solution to a pertinent problem that affects our society. This exercise will include developing a problem statement, envisioning of a multidisciplinary solution, planning a time schedule and allocating a budget. Students will present their work to their peers and create a rubric for evaluation.
Curated fashion exhibitions are fabricated sites where research practice, creative design, material culture, histories, and aesthetics converge in public display. In this course, students will learn about curatorial practice broadly, and the display of fashion artifacts more specifically, through theory and practice. We explore curation as research practice, while considering conceptual, political, economic, and aesthetic aspects of display. Research methods, archival research, analysis of primary sources, oral histories, and other forms of information gathering will be discussed and explored. In addition to individual assignments and readings, students will work collaboratively throughout the semester to curate a fashion exhibition using the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection along with other archives and collections across campus.
This course covers the development of functional fibers and textiles by nanotechnology. This course introduces nanomaterials, nano-finishes and nanocoating processes used for functional fibers and textiles. This course also emphasizes the structure-property of the nanofibers and nanotextiles and predict their end-use. Examples of nanotechnological products based on nanofibers and nanotextiles in the market are included. This course also discusses environmental issues and the sustainability aspects regard to nanotechnology used in fibers and textiles. Through lectures, readings, discussion, projects and presentations, this course highlights the role of nanotechnology for the development of functional fibers and textiles.
FSAD 6640Digital Anthropometry and Design in Fashion3
This course is designed to introduce students to the concepts and practices of digitally-measuring human body, sizing and fit, and digital product development. Discussions will be on technology solutions to improve fit and design process, and digitally-enabled manufacturing concepts. Readings and discussion topics will cover a variety of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research examples; and include theories and models from other disciplines such as computer sciences and consumer behavior.
This course covers the rheological and mechanical behavior of polymeric melts and solutions undergoing fiber formation processes. Students completing this class will have a strong understanding of fiber formation including mathematical modeling of flow lines, polymer and solution properties necessary for fiber formation, and relationships between fiber formation process and resulting fiber properties. Fiber formation methods including melt spinning, gel spinning, dry spinning, wet spinning and electrospinning will be addressed.
This course provides students with the theoretical tools to analyze and interpret fashion’s social and cultural significance. Drawing on sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and political theory, students will examine contemporary expressions of fashion and explore the ideological motivations of designers, curators, companies, and subcultures. The curriculum emphasizes the transformative role of fashion in shaping identities, institutions, and markets.
FSAD 6770Knitwear Design and Other Applications3.5
This course covers the design and creation of weft knit garments and other knit products via a variety of machine-knit shaping techniques. Students will work on hand-flat and electronic software driven machines to program and create knit panels and shaped garments. Draping, blocking, and linking techniques will be covered. Students are required to develop design ideas via mood board and sketchbook research and to make verbal/visual presentations of their work at regular critiques. As a graduate level course, there will be an emphasis on the use of knit structures for research.
FSAD 6800Ethical Design: Engine of Positive Change3
Modern society faces various issues which are all closely related to the ethical aspects of design: humanitarian crises, labor exploitation, injustice in the workplace, loss of diversity, over-consumption, pollution, lack of transparency and pseudo-solutions to name a few. This course will discuss various ethical issues in design that impact individuals, community/society, economies, cultures, social dynamics, and the environment. Students will identify and analyze critical ethical problems and explore solutions through class activities.
FSAD 6860Mechanics of Fibrous Assemblies and their Composites3
This class introduces mechanics of fibers, yarns and fabrics in a way that allows students to grasp the role of each constituent and their interaction in the overall response of fabrics under load. Types of fibrous composites will be discussed, and advantages and disadvantages of each type articulated to bring attention to their role as important structural materials. Mechanical models for fibrous composites will be introduced.
FSAD 6900Understanding Functional Aspects of Clothing and Design3
A holistic approach to the study of apparel design with the emphasis on integrating 1) knowledge of human performance, environmental challenges and the functional demands for apparel products, 2) prototype design, and 3) scientific design evaluation using the latest technologies.
