Through Carnegie Mellon’s Student College (StuCo), this was a course I led alongside fellow student Elliott Curtis. It was offered to CMU students during the Spring and was worth 3 elective units. We created the curriculum and designed a lesson plan to instruct over 40 students every semester.
Sneakerology 101 is the first accredited course dedicated to sneakers and their extensive impact on fashion, identity, and popular culture. The footwear industry is a multidisciplinary field that involves design, art, business, marketing, and social sciences. The students taking the course reflected this diversity as every college at Carnegie Mellon had at least one student enrolled.
Every year, the class hosts several guest speakers that give invaluable insight into the product life cycle of shoes while also giving a well rounded view of the footwear industry as a whole. Some guest speakers included:
• Bobbito Garcia, famed author and cultural figure
• Octavio Lubrano, Senior Designer for Jordan Brand
• Zac Dubasic, Managing Editor of Sole Collector Magazine
• Tracey McLeod, President of Sales and Marketing for BBC Int.
Acclaim
The course received national acclaim first through streetwear blogs such as Hypebeast.com, but quickly spread to other publications. Today, Sneakerology has been featured in over 20 print articles and more than 2,500 online. In November 2009, Sneakerology and CMU’s Media Relations received Honorable Mention at PR New’s Annual Award ceremony under the non-profit category “PR on a Shoestring Budget”
Collaboration
A main feature of the course was it’s ability to collaborate with other organizations. We worked not only with CMU faculty and student organizations, but also non-profit organizations like Soles4Souls and the Hill House Association to setup fundraisers and raise awareness. Perhaps our most successful collaboration was with Reebok where a special shoe was produced to commemorate the course and education as a whole.
Sneakerology 101
Sneakerology 101 @ Carnegie Mellon University
Sneakerology 101 is the first accredited course dedicated to sneakers and their extensive impact on fashion, identity, and popular culture. The footwear industry is a multidisciplinary field that involves design, art, business, marketing, and social sciences. The students taking the course reflected this diversity as every college at Carnegie Mellon had at least one student enrolled.
Every year, the class hosts several guest speakers that give invaluable insight into the product life cycle of shoes while also giving a well rounded view of the footwear industry as a whole. Some guest speakers included:
• Bobbito Garcia, famed author and cultural figure
• Octavio Lubrano, Senior Designer for Jordan Brand
• Zac Dubasic, Managing Editor of Sole Collector Magazine
• Tracey McLeod, President of Sales and Marketing for BBC Int.
Acclaim
The course received national acclaim first through streetwear blogs such as Hypebeast.com, but quickly spread to other publications. Today, Sneakerology has been featured in over 20 print articles and more than 2,500 online. In November 2009, Sneakerology and CMU’s Media Relations received Honorable Mention at PR New’s Annual Award ceremony under the non-profit category “PR on a Shoestring Budget”
Collaboration
A main feature of the course was it’s ability to collaborate with other organizations. We worked not only with CMU faculty and student organizations, but also non-profit organizations like Soles4Souls and the Hill House Association to setup fundraisers and raise awareness. Perhaps our most successful collaboration was with Reebok where a special shoe was produced to commemorate the course and education as a whole.
Read more about the Sneakerology X Reebok collaboration
Above: Elliott Curtis and I with Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohen
Created by Jesse Chorng, Elliott Curtis
Current Instructors: Eddie Wong, Destiny Ridguard
Course Information
Course #98-094 (Spring), 3 units
Mondays 7:00-8:50 pm
Doherty Hall 1112
Course Materials
Syllabus (pdf)
Press
The New York Times
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Chicago Suntimes
University Business Magazine
MTV, It’s on with Alexa Chung
Hypebeast
Sole Collector Magazine
Bounce Magazine
Cited
CNN.com
Sports Illustrated Blog
Philadelphia Inquirer
Detroit News
Recognition
PR NEWS “PR on a Shoestring Budget”, honorable mention