Associate Professor of Fashion
Phone: ext. 2360
Email: Mia.Whang@centenaryuniversity.edu
Personal Website: https://sites.google.com/site/fashionistajademade/home
Academic Accomplishments
- Ph.D., Kansas State University, 2011
- M.A., California State University in Los Angeles
- AA, ICM School of Business, Pittsburgh, PA
- B.S., Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Biography
Dr. Whang is an Associate Professor of Fashion Program in Fine Arts at Centenary University. She worked as a fashion designer for 6 years in Seoul, South Korea prior to coming to the States. She received her PhD in Apparel and Textiles from Kansas State University, specializing in creative design. The title of her dissertation is “Nelly Don’s 1916 Pink Gingham Apron Frock: An Illustration of the Middle-class American Housewife’s Shifting Role from Producer to Consumer.” She joined Centenary University as a Fashion faculty in 2011. Her instructional responsibilities include Fashion Sketching, Fashion Graphics, Flat Patternmaking, Draping, Product Development, Advanced Problems in Fashion (Senior Design Collection), and Portfolio Development. With her expertise in creative and sustainable fashion designs along with her passion for fashion, Dr. Whang aims to become a proficient teacher/designer/researcher who contributes to the field of apparel and textiles. As an empathetic educator, her teaching philosophy values mentoring and building relationships with students. She inspires students to fulfill not only their learning goals, but also life dreams while they navigate through college life. She nurtures students’ efforts while challenging them do their best and helps them set challenging, yet achievable goals. Her students’ design pieces have been accepted to a highly competitive juried design exhibition, organized by the most prestigious academic organization, International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA), which proves her leadership and mentorship.
Research
Dr. Whang’s creative scholarship focuses on the creation of wearable art, and sustainable yet marketable fashion designs that incorporate innovative surface design, flat patternmaking, and draping techniques. She implements “Slow Fashion” and incorporates “Natural Dyeing,” “Up-cycling”, “Multi-function Garment Design” and “Zero Waste Pattern Cutting” fashion strategies in her designs. Cultural fashion and historical costume designs serve as her inspirations, and sub-cultural themes and their impact on modern day styles are integrated into her design creations. The findings from her creative scholarship on patternmaking method and sustainable fashion design are also utilized in the curriculum development. She completed various garment designs and received national recognitions for the aesthetic creativity and design techniques. Dr. Whang’s design won the “Best Graduate Student Award” at the AAFCS (American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences) conference in 2009, and her design pieces have been accepted to the national/international juried exhibitions throughout the years. In Fall 2018, she held a ‘Creative Scholarship Exhibition: A Journey through Sustainable Fashion Design’ at Centenary University highlighting her creative design scholarship. She will continue her journey as a creative designer and fashion scholar through peer-reviewed exhibitions, design competitions, and other appropriate venues.