Human Ecology (Graduate Program)

Program Overview

The Human Ecology graduate program is currently in transition from a campus-wide reorganization effort that merged Nutrition with Food Science and created the Department of Textiles, Apparel Design, and Merchandising. This reorganization will in no way alter the faculty composition in these areas of research or the faculty’s commitment to graduate education.

Human Ecology has four concentrations: apparel design, historic/cultural aspects of textiles and apparel, merchandising, and textile science.

MS and PhD programs offer students choices within each concentration. Flexible interdisciplinary programs can be structured to meet each individual student’s specific interests. These programs may span textiles, apparel and merchandising and extend to other departments at LSU. Joint research efforts with many other departments exist.

Human Ecology also collaborates with the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station—the research unit of the LSU Agricultural Center—and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Additionally, external collaboration with institutions and industry partners such as the USDA Southern Regional Research Center and other external institutions extend educational opportunities for students.

Administration

Admission

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts, official test scores, and other materials that come from third-party sources must also be submitted online. These paper documents are stored electronically and departments have access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study.

Applications for admission are received and evaluated by the department as they are received, but usually for fall admissions these evaluations are completed by late March. Applicants must adhere to the application deadlines established by the Graduate School.

Students seeking admission must submit satisfactory credentials from previous study, acceptable GRE scores, and three letters of recommendation. These letters should be from previous professors, mentors and/or employers and address likelihood for success in a graduate program. International students, whose native language is not English, must also submit an acceptable TOFEL, IELTS, or PTE score.

When all admission requirements are met, full admission will be considered. On very rare occasions, if a student does not meet all requirements, a student may be admitted provisionally.

Interested applicants are encouraged to contact appropriate faculty members in the department to learn more about the program.

Financial Assistance

Limited financial assistance is available. Support may be available through the student’s home department or other units in the form of research or teaching assistantships. A student should contact his or her home department for more information on available assistantship positions. To ensure consideration for financial aid, all application materials should be submitted in accordance with deadlines established by the LSU Graduate School.

Human Ecology graduate fellowships and teaching and research assistantships are awarded competitively, based on qualifications and availability. The number and dollar amount of the assistantships vary depending on the available funding. The department nominates students for fellowships.

Graduate Faculty

(check current listings by department by clicking this link)

Textiles, Apparel Design, & Merchandising

Bonnie D. Belleau (EM) • Design, development, and evaluation of prototype apparel products; fashion theory; consumer, designer, manufacturer, and retailer knowledge of apparel products
Jenna T. Kuttruff (M) • Historic and sociocultural significance of textiles and apparel; analysis, interpretation and conservation of archaeological textile remains

Chunmin Lang (6A) • Sustainability, product-service retailing models, consumer behavior, apparel retailing & brand management
Chuanlan Liu (M) • Consumer behavior, retail market research, retailing management and apparel merchandising and entrepreneurship

Lisa McRoberts (6A) • Apparel design, body shape analysis, consumer preferences and satisfaction, functional design, prototype evaluation and sizing
Ioan Negulescu (M) • Textile science, chemistry of natural fibers and fiber-forming polymers, physical and chemical characterization of textiles
Laurel Dawn Romeo (6A) • Technology in apparel product development and manufacturing; technology in teaching and learn-ing; 3D garment design; 3D/4D body scanning; apparel fit and body shape; apparel and niche markets; updating anthropometric data of US population
Casey Rhea Stannard (6A) • Role of traditional textile handcrafts in contemporary society; sustainable aspects of apparel design; social psychological aspects of apparel design; creative scholarship incorporating fiber art techniques, theory based design, and 3D design technology

Programs

• Human Ecology, Ph.D.

• Human Ecology, M.S.