Sara Jablon-Roberts

Professor

JWU Faculty Since 2016

Sara Jablon-Roberts

Contact Info

Email
sara.jablonroberts@jwu.edu
Phone
401-598-2265
Campus
Providence

Sara Jablon-Roberts's career in academia began with costume design, primarily for dance and theater. Her costume credits include work with Broadway’s “The Lion King,” the original off-Broadway production of “Rent,” and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, among many others.

With an M.F.A. in costume design from New York University, her experience and education in clothing history, textiles, construction and communication led to teaching, which in turn led her to Iowa State University for her Ph.D. in Apparel, Merchandising and Design.

Now Jablon-Roberts's research agenda combines the creative practice of costume design and fashion design with historical dress, social and psychological theories of fashion, and the communicative qualities of appearance.

With these areas as her foundation, Jablon-Roberts is passionate about leading students through the discovery of the many and varied aspects of clothing, from textiles and sustainability to history and forecasting.

Education

  • Ph.D., Apparel, Merchandising & Design, Iowa State University
  • M.F.A., Costume Design, New York University
  • B.A., English, University of Pennsylvania

I encourage students to explore new and diverse ways of thinking about what we wear and why we wear it.

Courses

  • RTL 1015: Introduction to Retail and Fashion
  • RTL 2122: Retail and Fashion Lab
  • RTL 3075: Textile Design for Apparel and Home Furnishings
  • RTL 3350: Visual Merchandising
  • RTL 4050: Strategic Planning in the Fashion Industry
  • RTL 6010: Concepts and Theories in Fashion and Merchandising


Q&A with Sara

At JWU, education is not confined to the four walls of the classroom. You’re not going to spend four years with your nose buried in a book, learning theories you may never get a chance to apply — you’re going to get out there and apply them, be it through internships, group projects, leadership opportunities, competitions and more.

What Advice Do You Have For Incoming Freshmen?

The number one thing you can do to increase your academic success is go to class. Study after study shows that just showing up leads to more achievement. The number one thing you can to do make college a better social experience is join an extracurricular. JWU has dozens of groups and clubs and sports - finding one (or more!) that you like will make college feel more welcoming and then you can be the one to welcome next year's first-years!