Biography
Dr. Colbey Emmerson Reid is Professor and the Chairperson of the department of Fashion Studies at Columbia College Chicago. She specializes in the theory of style and its impact on contemporary consumer culture. Reid has published Design, Mediation and the Posthuman (2014); was a contributor to Emerging Genres in New Media Environments (2016); and has won awards in recognition of her articles on "statistical aesthetics" (2009) and "Mina Loy's Design Flaws" (2011). Other published work addresses the impact of tile and textile pattern designs on perceptions of disability, the religious history of accessories and clothing in American cocktail culture, and the intellectual history of glamour. She is currently working on two co-authored projects, including a book called The Domestic Posthuman, on the impact pets, fashion, and interior design will have on future conceptions of artificial intelligence, and a behavior science collaboration studying the impact of brand secrets on the development of consumer micro-collectives. Reid is also the founder of Columbia College's Fashion Lab, and has directed over 50 academic/industry research partnership projects for companies like Cotton Incorporated, Cintas, United Airlines, and many others; she won an award for Outstanding Extension and Engagement Service in 2016 for work of this kind. Reid earned her BA at the University of Florida (1995) and both the MA and PhD the University of Washington (2003). She has also completed post-doctoral coursework and certifications at Cornell University (2005), Duke University (2017), and the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park (2004).
Instructional Areas
Fashion Studies
Creative Practice and Research Interests
consumer culture, design theory, brand aesthetics, materials neuroscience, the diffusion of innovations
Degrees
Ph.D., University of Washington 2003