Sha'Mira Covington

College of Family and Consumer Sciences

Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors

PhD Candidate & Graduate Teaching Assistant

Education

Degree Field of Study Institution Graduation
B.S. Fashion Merchandising, Art History The University of Georgia 2011
M.S. Communications- Public Relations Syracuse University 2018
Ph.D. Polymer, Fiber, and Textile Sciences- International Merchandising emphasis, African American Studies The University of Georgia 2023

Research

Sha'Mira's research explores fashion and dress as cultural, historical, social, and political processes involved in and affected by histories of colonial domination, anti-colonial resistance, and processes of decolonization. Her primary interests are in Africana studies within the fashion-industrial complex, African diaspora fashion history, and womanist pedagogy. 

Master's thesis: "Fashnexus?: Blockchain, Sustainability, and Corporate Social Responsibility"

Teaching

The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, Instructor of record

Introduction to Family and Consumer Sciences (Spring 2020)

The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, present, Teaching Assistant

Awards

Award Name Awarded By Year Awarded
Jan Hathcote Social Science Award UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences 2019
FACS Funds for Excellence UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences 2019
Myron G. Burney Service Award The Black Faculty & Staff Organization 2019
New Approaches Grant for Diversity and Inclusion UGA Office of Institutional Diversity 2019
Endsley Peifer Research Award UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences 2020
Graduate Education Advancement Board Fellowship UGA Graduate School 2020
Graduate Research Award Willson Center for Humanities and Art 2021
SEC Emerging Scholar Southeastern Conference 2021
Campus Sustainability Grant UGA Office of Sustainability 2021

Service

Organization Title Year(s) Service Type
University of Georgia Graduate School xPD Advisory Board Current
Public Relations Society of America Member Current
International Textile and Apparel Association Member Current
Association of Black Women Historians Member Current
Costume Society of America, Southeastern Region Member Current
Graduate Student Association TMI Representative Current
Black Women Studies Association Member Current
National Black Council of Black Studies Member Current

Outreach

Healing and Wellness Program Coordinator for Chess and Community, Athens GA, 2019

Community Partner, African American Oral History Initiative with the Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, Athens GA, 2019

Advisory Committee

Major profoessor: Dr. Katalin Medvedev

Committee member: Dr. Patricia Hunt-Hurst

Committee member: Dr. Carolyn Medine

Committee member: Dr. Lesley Feracho

Committee member: Dr. Kathryn Roulston

Hobbies and Passions

Embodiment artist: Yoga and pole dance 

Current Research

I am currently interested in the myriad of ways that Black women have used embodied modes as liberatory praxis. 

My other research interests include:

  • Racial representation within the fashion-industrial complex
  • Decolonization within the yoga-industrial complex
  • Blackness and media
  • Afro-Indigenous studies
  • Dance performance, politics, and identity
  • Black political/protest dress and efficacy
  • Fashion and aesthetics as political tools
  • Social justice pedagogy in fashion studies
  • Contemplative pedagogy
  • Race and decolonization pedagogy
  • Crititcal analysis of corporate social responsibility

Journal Articles

Covington, S., Medvedev, K. 2019. “Dressing for Freedom and Justice”. Clothing Cultures, 6(2), 215-235.

Reed, J., Covington, S., & Medvedev, K. 2022. "Creating Room for Social Justice Pedagogy in Fashion Education". Clothing and Textiles Research Journal. 

Covington, S., Medine, C. 2022. “Africana Yogi Personae: Black Yoga Practitioners’ Aesthetic Negotiations in Dress”. The Arrow: A Journal of Wakeful Society, Culture, and Politics. 

Covington, S. 2022. “The Narrative Bodies of James Baldwin: A Discussion of Sartorial and Literary Style". Religions.

Working Papers

Covington, S., Medvedev, K. “Woke” Brands?: An Analysis of Racial Consciousness and the Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Fashion-Industrial Complex. [CTRJ].

Weigle, B., & Covington, S. “The Role of Clothing and Textiles in Defining ‘Family’, a Study of the Narratives from the Former Slave Project”. [Fashion Studies]

Covington, S. “Decentering and Decolonizing Fashion”. [Edited textbook chapter for Meanings of Dress].

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