Stony Brook University SUNY Korea

On May 10, FIT hosted the annual Future of Fashion runway show, which for the second year was presented by Macy’s. Held in the Breezeway and emceed by Ashley Graham, model and entrepreneur, the show featured 87 looks created by a select group 2023 graduates of FIT’s Fashion Design BFA program. This year, the featured designs spanned four concentrations: sportswear, knitwear, intimate apparel, and special occasion. Some of the themes were size inclusivity, gender neutral, sustainability, and deconstructed and repurposed. Plenty of bright bold colors and textures were on view. Click here to read the original article.

Before her red-carpet appearance at the Met Gala on May 1, eco-conscious designer Stella McCartney spoke with Dr. Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at FIT, in front of a packed audience in the Katie Murphy Amphitheatre. McCartney offered candid and generous responses to questions from Steele and students about growing up in a creative household, the challenges of sustainable and cruelty-free design, and the importance of timeless, well-constructed clothes. Click here to read the original article.

As graduation looms for the Class of 2023, Grad Day celebrated the graduates and kicked off the countdown to commencement. The April 19 event was co-sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government and the Stony Brook University Alumni Association. Despite brisk temperatures, hundreds of students attended the event, held on the Shop Red West outdoor patio. Click here to read the original article.  

“Once you learn what’s going on behind the veil of fashion, it’s very difficult to continue on and ignore it,” said Kerry Bannigan, founder and executive director of the Fashion Impact Fund, in a Globally Connected @ FIT event held April 13 titled, “Why the Fashion Industry Should Strive to Be Sustainable Sooner.” Bannigan, along with Liz Breuer, International Trade and Marketing ’19, cofounder and CEO of New Normal Bureau, spoke about how they became advocates for sustainability in the fashion industry and what students can do in the face of a global environmental crisis. Helen Gaudette, assistant dean for International Education, moderated. Click here to read the original article.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and The Trust for Governors Island today announced that Stony Brook University will serve as the anchor institution for the development of a world-leading climate solutions center on Governors Island in the city’s harbor. “The New York Climate Exchange” (“The Exchange”) will be a first-of-its kind international center for developing and deploying dynamic solutions to our global climate crisis, while also acting as a hub for New Yorkers to benefit from the rapidly evolving green economy.   Click here to read the original article.  

Nicole Chen ’23 is among a group of Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) students from across the State University of New York (SUNY) system to receive the Norman R. McConney Jr. Award for Student Excellence. The award, now celebrating its fourth class of awardees, recognizes outstanding EOP students for their academic merit and perseverance. Click here to read the original article.  

  On Wednesday, April 19, The SUNY Korea Museum of Modern Costume held the opening reception for “Global Glamour: A Tour of Colorful and Exotic Costumes.”   ‘Global Glamour’ is a unique and exciting opportunity to explore the rich cultural heritage of diverse communities from across the world. The exhibition showcases the beauty and intricate detail of traditional costumes from around the globe. The costumes on display are a vibrant celebration of color, and many of them are embellished with intricate embroidery that reflects the unique patterns and motifs of each culture. This allows visitors to experience the rich tapestry of cultural expression through the art of costume. The intention behind the exhibition is to promote cultural understanding and appreciation in the global era. In a world that is increasingly interconnected and interdependent, it is more important than ever to be aware of and understand the diverse cultural traditions and practices of communities from across the world. By showcasing the beauty and unique character of traditional costumes from different regions, the Costume Museum's exhibition hopes to inspire visitors to learn more about the world's rich cultural heritage, and to celebrate the diversity that makes our world so beautiful.   This exhibition will open from April 19, 2023 through September 27, 2023. Also, this exhibition will be suspended during June 5 – 27 for the 2023 Fashion Design AAS exhibition. The opening hours of the museum is: Monday – Friday (10:00am – 5:00pm) / Weekends and Holidays: closed  

    Join us on our campus for an exciting day of exploration at SUNY Korea Experience Day! Immerse yourself in the world of Stony Brook University and FIT department programs as our esteemed professors deliver captivating mock lectures. Engage with current students from each department and get firsthand insights into their experience at SUNY Korea. Don't miss out on this unparalleled opportunity to learn more about our dynamic programs and campus life. Mark your calendar and join us for SUNY Korea Experience Day! Please click on the image to register!   Should you have any questions regarding the SUNY Korea Experience Day, please do not hesitate to contact us. +82-32-626-1030 | admission@sunykorea.ac.kr 

SUNY Korea Signs an MOU with IFEZ·IGC Universities Photography Courtesy: IFEZ On April 6th, SUNY Korea and 6 organizations including the IFEZ and universities associated in the IGC signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create Songdo International City as a bilingual city. The organizations agreed on their communal effort to create a bilingual city connected to our local community and partner with English education-related organizations. Furthermore, they decided to plan specific action plans in order to perform other minor businesses related in making Songdo a bilingual city. The purpose of the agreement is to build a public private partnership (PPP) through cooperation among the 7 organizations and carry out their specific action plans. IFEZ is currently working on improving the living conditions of foreigners working in IFEZ and creating the bilingual city to accelerate businesses regarding foreign investment and acquisition of new companies.   Translated from an article from Daehan Gyeongje (대한경제). Click here to read the article.

For generations, women’s rights have been restricted in Iran. As recent political tensions have grown, so have the restrictions. Women’s current protests are a century in the making. Can we call this a feminist revolution? “Back in 2011, I was on the phone with my grandmother in Tehran,” says Dr. Sara Hassani, assistant professor of political science and women’s and gender studies at Providence College. “She told me about an effort she and her friends were partaking in for girls who survived their self-immolations”—the act of setting oneself on fire.  Click here to read the original article.

Employment Success Stories of SUNY Korea Graduates SUNY Korea Stony Brook Students Listening to a Class Lecture   Graduates of SUNY Korea are successfully obtaining employment at global companies and prestigious graduate schools. SUNY Korea is the first Korean campus established among prestigious overseas universities, and is recognized as one of the excellent global campus. According to SUNY Korea, Ji-Hyun Baek, a Mechanical Engineering graduate from Stony Brook University, joined Meta, a company that operates the world's largest social media platform Facebook. Furthermore, Computer Science graduate Yoo-Jung Shin joined LG Energy Solution U.S. subsidiary, Applied Mathematics and Statistics graduate Seung-Won Byun joined Samjeong KPMG, Technology and Society graduate Ji-Hun Gwak joined Deloitte Anjin LLC, Business Management graduate Ha-Young Ji joined Posco International America Corporation, and Fashion Technology University (FIT) graduate Sang-Hoon Kwak joined the global online luxury platform Tren:be. Technology and Society graduate Sung-Hwan Kim got accepted to Stanford Graduate school. SUNY Korea indicated the reason for the success of graduates in a series of global companies are △ Having the same curriculum as the New York campus in the United States △ Providing a unique interdisciplinary program to strengthen global capabilities △ Forming a practical education related to high-tech industries required by global companies. From its inception, SUNY Korea has been providing a curriculum that uses creativity and critical thinking skills required by the industry, and global-level lectures that can cultivate problem-solving skills and acquire knowledge that is immediately applicable to hands-on experience. SUNY Korea is an expansion campus of the United States’ Stony Brook University and Fashion Institute of Technology, offering the same curriculum as the New York campus in the United States, allowing students to experience the best degree programs in the United States. Stony Brook University is recognized as a science-oriented research university, ranking first among the public universities in New York State in last year's US News & World Report. In addition, students from Stony Brook University at SUNY Korea take classes with students on the New York campus for one year during their studies. Students from the Fashion Institute of Technology can also pursue a bachelor's degree in New York or Milan after a two-year associate graduate degree in Korea. Seung-Won Byun, who is working at Samjeong KPMG after graduating from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics at SUNY Korea, said, “I was able to broaden my perspective of seeing the world by communicating with friends from various nationalities that I met on and off the campus in New York Campus. I was also able to get a job where I wanted with various experiences, career courses, and job counseling programs in school". Sang-Hoon Kwak, who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology, also known as the MIT of the fashion industry, is working at the global online luxury platform "Tren:be" and said that he gained a wide view of the global market through this practical interdisciplinary program in university. Sung-Hwan Kim, who got accepted to Stanford Graduate School said, “The practical and professional curriculum of SUNY Korea gave me a broader perspective on the field of energy technology, which led me to apply to graduate school.” Arthur H. Lee, President of the State University of New York - Korea, said, "SUNY Korea offers all lectures in English and provides the same curriculum as the New York campus in the United States. To foster talented people who can be active in the global society, various opportunities are provided to acquire global capabilities and knowledge at the same time. I think these efforts have paid off and our graduates are receiving good reviews from global companies". Meanwhile, SUNY Korea, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, is the first U.S. university in Korea to host and operate promising departments from Stony Brook University (SBU), the world's most prestigious university among 64 state universities in New York, and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), a world-renowned fashion university. Stony Brook University has six departments: Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Technology and Society, and Business Management. The Fashion Institute of Technology has two departments: Fashion Design and Fashion Business Management. Click here to read the original article. 

  FIT’s 17th Annual Sustainable Business and Design Conference took place March 28 and 29 in the Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, in person for the first time since 2019. The theme was Ideas at Work, to emphasize the way sustainability innovation is translating into action. The conference opened with a conversation between noted author and podcaster Dana Thomas and Maxine Bédat, founder and director of New Standard Institute, a “think-and-do tank” to drive accountability in the fashion industry. They spoke about the lack of regulations and hard data about the environmental impact of fashion brands. Click here to read the original article.  

  The Spring 2023 IGC Career Festival - Find Your Mentors was held on Saturday, March 18, 2023. This event provided a great opportunity for the students from four universities (SUNY Korea, George Mason, Utah, and Ghent) to learn about the diverse career paths, how to prepare for jobs, and interacting with qualified professional mentors from diverse industries. Mentors from LG Display, SK Bioscience, SK Magic, L'oreal, Channel.io, Hyundai Department Store Handsome, and Adriel shared their knowledge and experience from their fields. Students had a post-event evaluation session, and one student said, "I learned that it is important to find what field you want to specialize in and what kind of work you want to do during internships. The name value of where you work is not as important compared to what you learn and the realization of what you want to do in the future."            

  On Thursday, March 16, Marie Claire and Kering held a sustainability-themed event, Fashion Our Future, featuring an exclusively FIT pop-up exhibition showcasing the work of seven Fashion Design students from the MFA and BFA programs, as well as a panel discussion featuring FIT President Joyce F. Brown. Marie Claire and Kering launched Fashion Our Future in 2022, an initiative focusing on fashion and sustainability and featuring a diverse group of leaders in the sustainable fashion space coming together to discuss a way forward. Actor and event panelist Kerry Washington—who is on the cover of the current issue of Marie Claire—joined the students in the exhibition space and talked with each of them about their designs. Click here to read the original article.

  What does “Fashion Is Spinach” mean? For Elizabeth Hawes, the American fashion designer, celebrated author, activist, and social critic, it meant the fashion industry is as nonsensical as the statement. The most famous of Hawes’ books (she published nine), Fashion Is Spinach was called an incendiary critique of the fashion industry when first published in 1940. In recent years, Hawes (1903–1971) has come to seem increasingly relevant for her progressive stance on class, gender, and environmentalism in fashion. Click here to read the original article.