Posts in Culture
"E-sports+" in COVID-19: Fashion and Esports Make Their Way, Hand-in-Hand and Hopefully

The global pandemic is squeezing the living space out of many industries, including the traditional fashion industry. However, to some Internet-based fields such as esports, the pandemic has produced more opportunity. COVID-19 has also catalyzed more cross-border cooperation: traditional industries need new blood to twist the adverse situation, while emerging industries need legacy icons or brands to help them unlock broader markets. Hence, the marriage between fashion and esports under the pandemic is unexpected, but predictably, influential.

Read More
Building an Internationally Renowned, Global Design Team with Renata Amaral Morris and Gabriel Seibel from EAT Creative Studio

For Design Nation 2021's first podcast, Sowon Lee speaks to Renata Amaral Morris, CEO and Founder of EAT Creative Studio, and Gabriel Seibel, who acts as Partner, COO, and Head of Production for EAT. In this podcast, Renata and Gabriel share more about the strengths of having a global team structure, how EAT communicates their values of transparency and authentic representation in their design work, and what their creative techniques and sources of inspiration are. In addition, the pair share their excitement for their recent new brand launch for EAT!

Read More
Making the Cut: The Future Generation of American Culinary Arts

The Foodservice industry might employ the most minorities, but that diversity is not reaching the top ranks in the kitchen. In particular, the strong focus on the European system has caused a lack of representation of culinary traditions from other parts of the world. Grace Chung analyzes how there is heavy cultural bias towards cooking in the French style among restaurateurs and how the culinary curriculum as a whole disregards the traditions and importance of other global cuisines.

Read More
Accelerating the Future Talent: Workspace Temporalities

The booming startup scene has also introduced concepts of interconnected work-life management that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. While part of this evolution is undoubtedly part of the regular adaptation of the workplace to modern expectations and technological advances, a different component and its place in the workspace has changed profoundly: time.

Read More
Fallen Angels and the Underwear Revolution

Victoria’s Secret, one of the most historically profitable lingerie brands, has restrictive paradigms for femininity and is losing relevance. For a more inclusive consumer audience, other lingerie companies are appealing to more ages, body types, genders, races and abilities by producing types of underwear that emphasize a simple look, feel, and comfort.

Read More
Marketing 101: Lessons from Cadillac and "The Penalty of Leadership"

In a competitive world where “emulation and envy are ever at work,” many companies find it hard to use advertising as a space to break free from the rigid rules of business. However, those that invest in creative and inclusive styles of marketing often find the most success because consumers are looking to buy much more than a physical product; they are looking to buy an identity.

Read More
Apple vs. Spotify: Through the Lens of Those who Consume and Create

In the past, many were often opposed to the idea that they were being tracked online. However, as Summer Journalism Fellow Ashleigh Fields observes, recent additions to music platforms have given users a different perspective. With their wealth of analytics, Spotify and Apple Music have given both listeners and artists a chance to better understand the content they are consuming and creating, enhancing their overall streaming experience.

Read More
Inquisitive and Idealistic: Gwendolyn Lee, Co-Founder of Students vs. Pandemics, on the Power of Students and Interdisciplinary Innovation

Gwendolyn Lee, co-founder of Students vs Pandemics, discusses with Summer Journalism Fellow Millie Muroi her vision of bringing people with different perspectives together to tackle COVID-19 through innovative solutions, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and student leadership. Lee also shares her insights on the road ahead for healthcare, policy, and business in the coming decade and how students can actively contribute beyond the academic sphere through civic engagement and public service.

Read More
Pioneering Academia: A Conversation with Dr. Leonard Wantchekon

Originally from Zagnanado in central Benin, Leonard Wantchekon is a Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. Largely, his work stands at the intersection of Politics, Economic History, and Development Economics, particularly in Africa, and has also contributed significantly to the literature on clientelism and state capture, resource curse, and democratization.

Read More
The Art Market: What the Numbers Say About American Ideals

Throughout the years, an increasing number of Black artists have entered the space of fine art, pushing boundaries of aestheticism and, in turn, claiming a stake in the white-dominated market. Though as the mainstream prominence of Black art remains disparate from its white counterparts, evident through market value and representation in galleries across the country, another facet of the industry must be examined to understand why: the Black curator.

Read More
Black in Business: How Entrepreneurs of Color Have Triumphed Financially in a Crisis

As the world watched a video of George Floyd taking his last breath, the Black Lives Matter movement gained rare air, and as millions looked for ways to make a difference, small Black-owned businesses got an unprecedented boost. As Summer Journalism Fellow Ashleigh Field explains, many of these owners are using this prosperity to reinvest back in the community and contribute to the larger cause for justice and equality.

Read More
Fair Play: Leveling the Paying Field in Soccer

As female soccer players receive growing recognition on a global level, pay disparity on the field is being subject to increasing scrutiny, and becoming evidently indefensible - both from a social and economic standpoint. Summer Journalism Fellow Millie Muroi explores pay structures in Australia vs. the US, economic arguments for and against equal pay, and costs vs. benefits of changing to an equal play, equal pay system.

Read More
Slipping Prices: Challenges faced by the Spain’s Olive Oil Industry

Since pre-Roman times, the cultivation of olives has maintained a long tradition in Spanish agriculture. In recent years, however, this integral product has fallen into precarious situations due to changes in the global market demand and the appearance of new pathogens that threaten to disrupt the supply chain.

Read More
Discrimination in the Digits: A Conversation with Ruha Benjamin, Author of “Race after Technology”

Dr. Ruha Benjamin, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, challenges the dominant narrative that technology always equals progress in her latest novel “Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code,” examining how the heavy impact of COVID-19 on minority communities has exposed default settings of inequity in innovation that have been historically present.

Read More
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: The Future of the Global Workforce with Aubrey Blanche

Aubrey Blanche, Director of Equitable Design and Impact at Culture Amp and startup investor and advisor, discusses the importance of eliminating the word “meritocracy” from the tech industry in order to tackle assumptions about diversity. As founder and CEO of The MathPath (Math Nerd + Empath), she also explains how she combines data and empathy to help execs build work environments that thrive in representation.

Read More
A Conversation with Alex Kennedy, Global Head and Director of Partnership Strategy and Operations at Twitter

Alex Kennedy, Global Head and Director of Partnership Strategy and Operations at Twitter, emphasizes the necessity of unconscious bias training, Twitter’s role in reflecting their online user constituency through employee representation at all levels, breaking up the homogenous “tech/innovator/creator” set, and how companies can be intentional about diversity by supporting their workforce as they enter and ascend the ranks.

Read More
Appreciation, not Appropriation: Cultural Inclusivity in the Spotlight

The concept of inclusivity in the world of fashion is one that is constantly being refined. While companies and brands take steps to create a truly diverse atmosphere, they also must be aware of the fine line that is cultural appropriation, and the way that they are able to maneuver around these issues can set them apart in an era that is hyper-aware of diversity.

Read More