GEO 433 – Gender, Fashion, and Globalization
Geo-political and economic organization of the garment and fashion industry and its social and cultural impact…
About the Instructor
Marina Karides is a Professor of Geography and Environment. She has taught this course for multiple years in numerous places and draws on the local fashion context in her instruction including the latest developments in sustainable fashion. She identifies as an intersectional, postcolonial, and transdisciplinary feminist scholar who is widely published and committed to student mentorship.
For inquiries: email mkarides@hawaii.edu
SUMMER 2 (ONLINE)
This course develops oral and written communication skills by addressing the geo-political and economic organization of the garment and fashion industry and its social and cultural impact. The course is divided into three sections. First, the ethical considerations of present and historic production: How, where, and by whom are garments produced in the global economy and under what conditions? Second, the study of consumption: what influences people’s decisions when consuming fashion? What are the effect of gender, race, and class in the fashion industry and the varied and changing spaces of clothes shopping? Third, the rise of social movements in relation to the garment and fashion industry including sustainable fashion and fashion as a form of protest.
Students will deliberate the merits of local alternatives to the mass-scale global corporate production of clothes including localism, fair trade, solidarity economics, and other strategies. Assignments include interviewing a local designer or garment production and researching an article of clothing from your own closet.
Fulfills major requirement: WI, E
Updated 05/28/2026