Analysis of fashion Curriculum in 4-year Colleges : Cross-national Comparison of Korea, USA, UK, Japan, & Hong Kong

4년제 대학의 패션관련학과 교과과정 비교분석: 한국, 미국, 영국, 일본, 홍콩를 중심으로

This study analyzed the curricula of fashion related majors at 4-year colleges in the USA, UK, Japan and Hong Kong as well as in Korea and compared the characteristics of the Korean curriculum with those of the four countries. A total of 124 curricula from 103 colleges were collected. Courses were divided into eight categories (including industry and market information; materials; merchandise planning; design; production; distribution and selling; basics; and consumption) representing the production and distribution process of fashion business. There were differences in course offerings among the five countries. Overall, curricula in Korea emphasized design and production (construction) areas and showed not much differentiation among colleges. While industry and market information, merchandise planning, and production (management) areas were emphasized in the USA , differentiation/specialization by major was observed . UK and Hong Kong had well-specialized curricula by major Japan seemed to offer traditional and consumption oriented courses. Based on the findings, some propositions for the Korean fashion curriculum were discussed.