School of Human Ecology Brings Home Three National Awards

July 14, 2016

[caption id="attachment_5663" align="aligncenter" width="608"] Kyler Arnold, Youngjoo Lee, Ph.D., and Cynthia Johnson, Ph.D., pose at the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences AAFCS annual conference where they won three awards.[/caption] Two Georgia Southern faculty members and a student in the School of Human Ecology in the College of Health and Human Sciences received awards recently during the 107th American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) Annual Conference and Expo held in Bellevue, Washington, June 22-25. Junior Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Design (FMAD) student, Kyler Arnold, received the Award of Outstanding Undergraduate Research Scholarship for his research titled ‘Apparel Product Development: From Visual Art Inspiration to Fashion Creation “Aðila.”’ Professor and School Chair, Cynthia Johnson, Ph.D., was honored by the Coordinating Council of Honor Societies as a leader in family and consumer sciences and was presented the Legend Award for her numerous leadership undertakings in the profession of child development and family relations. In addition, Johnson was recognized for planning and implementing the first doctoral program in medical family therapy that works to support child-rearing and childcare. Youngjoo Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor in Georgia Southern’s Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Design Program, received the Best of Show Award in the juried showcase and exhibition. “Magnificence,” Lee’s creative activity project, is a wearable art creation inspired by Renaissance tailoring technique and craftsmanship in costume history that dates back to the chartered guild of merchants in Germany in 1153. Lee’s experiment followed the journey of the spirit of tailors’ efforts in engineering garments from the late 14th to 16th centuries, and specifically examined Charles of Blois’ pourpoint shape and the evolution of design, such as the sleeve collar, over the next two centuries. “During the journey of this creative work, I gratefully appreciated the Renaissance tailor’s endless trials in bringing a flamboyant style to our lives while incorporating the technical aspect of tailoring,” said Lee. The School of Human Ecology at Georgia Southern University is a community of teachers and scholars representing four distinct, yet interrelated, disciplines -- child and family development, fashion merchandising and apparel design, interior design, and recreation. These disciples share a value of educating and preparing students for career opportunities in business, industry, education, government and the social agencies. The School seeks to graduate students who are knowledgeable, creative, articulate, resourceful and effective in problem solving.