Jennifer Harmon
Family and Consumer Sciences | Design, Merchandising & Textiles
Associate Professor
Introduction
My diverse research portfolio includes work in my two main areas of interest, social psychology of dress and appearance and sustainable textile and apparel product development.
Topics I have investigated in the area of social psychology of dress include pro-anorexia, obesity bias, overweight children’s perceptions of athletic clothes, adding warning labels to fashion magazine advertisements’ effect on body image negativity and analyzing Lane Bryant’s PlusIsEqual campaign. Currently, I am working with a team of interdisciplinary scholars to investigate the positive body image experiences of non-binary individuals.
Education
Ph.D. Human Sciences, Fashion and Retail Specialization, Sociology Minor, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
M.S. Human Sciences, Fashion and Retail Specialization, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
B.S. Family and Consumer Sciences, Business Minor, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois
Courses Taught
- Intro to Fashion and Dress
- Design Communication
- Trend Forecast & Analysis
- Intro to Textile Science
- Visual Merchandising and Promotion
- Global Textiles
- Advanced Textiles
Research Interests
- Social psychology of dress and appearance
- Sustainable textile and apparel product development
- Body image negativity
- Relationships between perceiver fashion orientation and ratings of professional clothing styles for women’s apparel.
- Waste reduction
- Generational eco-friendly attitudes and behaviors
- Consumer impressions of bacterial cellulose
- Recreating natural dye based coloration methods for textiles of Native American tribes.
- Measuring student learning gains from experiential learning techniques
Additional Information
In the area of sustainable textile and apparel product development, I’ve successfully extracted and applied colorfast dye for local plants to cotton fabric, investigated waste reduction in the application of indigo dye, investigated generational eco-friendly attitudes and behaviors and have grown, dyed and measured consumer impressions of bacterial cellulose.
Other areas of research I am engaged in are measuring student learning gains from experiential learning techniques, creative scholarship works and aiding the formation of a student run retail store through the Family and Consumer Sciences department.
I am also a member of these organizations:
- American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists
- International Textile and Apparel Association
