Course Coordinator:Deborah Fisher (dfisher@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC Sunshine Coast |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus. |
Please go to usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course introduces key concepts of the diverse ideas and systems within the fashion industry. You will engage with critical fashion theory through the lens of popular, material, consumer and visual culture; become familiar with trend forecasting, consumerism, and identity construction; along with understanding our complex relationship with clothing. You will explore some of the challenges facing a global industry where a focus on sustainability is forcing major disruption to traditional processes while engaging with practical applications of SDG's 3,4 5,6,8,9 and 12.
Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
Blended learning | |||
Learning materials – (Asynchronous) Learning Materials | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Workshop | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
Seminar | 2hrs | Not applicable | 2 times |
Online | |||
Learning materials – Asynchronous learning materials | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Online workshop | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
Seminar | 2hrs | Not applicable | 2 times |
Material Culture:
Consumer Culture:
Visual Culture:
100 Level (Introductory)
12 units
Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
1 | Investigate current fashion trends and predict fashion challenges in the future | Creative and critical thinker |
2 | Use research to examine fashion concepts from historical and contemporary perspectives | Creative and critical thinker |
3 | Examine and reflect on how clothing and adornment demonstrate aspects of identity | Creative and critical thinker |
4 | Reflect upon simple principles of consumerism and its effect on global fashion industries. | Sustainability-focussed |
5 | Apply a material culture approach to analyse the link between clothing and the wearer | Empowered |
6 | Use written, oral and visual modes to communicate in academic and creative ways | Empowered |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
You will receive formative feedback on your work during the Week 3 workshop by the lecturer and by peer feedback activities.
Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
All | 1 | Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece | Individual | 30% | Poster & 500 words rationale |
Week 4 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
All | 2 | Oral and Written Piece | Individual | 40% | 4-5 minute oral visual presentation |
Week 7 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
All | 3 | Essay | Individual | 30% | 1500 words with minimum 5 images |
Week 13 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
All - Assessment Task 1:Cool-Hunting Poster and Rationale | |
Goal: | The goal of this task is to analyse fashion at a "street" level and identify and present an upcoming trend visually. |
Product: | Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece |
Format: | You are to observe people in a local setting and determine some aspects of their dress, which indicates an emerging trend. The inspiration for this might be a friend or group of friends, or someone else you regard as a style icon. You could observe a group of strangers, although you would need their permission for photographs. You will use a trend forecasting service such as Vogue.com or WGSN to determine the validity of the trend. Find at least three different instances of the trend. In 500 words, you will name and describe the trend. You will discuss why you think it is an upcoming trend, and how you determined that. Consider how this trend might be influenced by or influence, popular culture. Your written rational will include come visual evidence of the trend such as photos or sketches. You will create an A3 cool hunting poster demonstrating your visual prediction of the upcoming trend. |
Criteria: |
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All - Assessment Task 2:Oral-Visual Presentation | |
Goal: | The goal of this task is to research a group, culture or subculture within society and report on the links between identity and fashion |
Product: | Oral and Written Piece |
Format: | In this task, you will research a significant group of people who use dress to display aspects of their identity. The group may be significant for one or several reasons; religious, political, cultural or anti-fashion. Some starting points might be "Punk" for political causes or "the Amish" for religious identity for example. You should examine and describe the aesthetic characteristics of the items of dress, appearance or body modification of the group, using a material culture approach. This means you will discuss the relationship between the object or item of clothing and the wearer. Using fashion history research as the starting point, describe how the group has evolved to its current form and the relevance of their appearance in contemporary society. You should strive to demonstrate how the items of clothing are used to "make meaning" or show a message. Consider the visual communication of the items identified and describe how this is applied. Prepare an informative and engaging 6-8 minute oral/visual presentation (script and slides to be submitted) to inform your classmates about the clothing of the group of people selected and the reasons behind their clothing choices. Provide your ideas on how this particular group might have changed or developed twenty years from now. Be prepared for questions. |
Criteria: |
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All - Assessment Task 3:Visual Essay - A Fashionable Future | |
Goal: | The goal of this task is to investigate an aspect of fashion as consumer culture through a visual essay to understand some of the challenges facing the fashion industry in the future. |
Product: | Essay |
Format: | You will write a 1500 word essay with a minimum of 5 peer-reviewed academic sources and 5 images. To successfully complete this assessment task, you will investigate an aspect of the fashion industry and how it might approach a particular future challenge such as fast-fashion, changing modes of fashion presentation, collaborations and co-design opportunities for example. It is important to identify, analyse and understand the influences that will shape the fashion industry in the future. You will then develop an essay that includes illustrations to support your research. Sources must be reliable and referenced. Topics provided will be aligned with key readings from the course and provided in Canvas. |
Criteria: |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
There are no special requirements but a mobile digital device may prove helpful.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct.
Late submission of assessment tasks may be penalised at the following maximum rate: - 5% (of the assessment task's identified value) per day for the first two days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - 10% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the third day - 20% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fourth day and subsequent days up to and including seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - A result of zero is awarded for an assessment task submitted after seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. Weekdays and weekends are included in the calculation of days late. To request an extension you must contact your course coordinator to negotiate an outcome.
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