Expertise

Associate Professor and Chair, Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design

Aspelund’s research within textiles has broadly involved material culture and identity creation on an individual and national level. As a member of the 100 Year Starship research team, his research into the design needs and constraints of textiles for long-duration space flight led to a focus on textiles, design, and human culture within closed-loop ecosystems. This research of cultures and textiles in extreme environments will greatly inform the future sustainability in textiles – the material technology, constraints and the environmental concerns, including how to dispose of clothing, along with the cultural behaviors and adaptation to textiles. This focus is now turned toward Earth, and, as Chair of the Department, Aspelund hopes to transform teaching and research in the field of textiles, fashion  merchandising and design with a design-think approach that will allow them to interact with a variety of industries and disciplines. Currently working on a book titled: “What is Good Design? (Seven Meditations from a House on Fire.),” he also spearheaded the planning of a soon-to-be-proposed URI minor in design thinking and headed the creation of design-thinking spaces at URI’s Kingston and Providence campuses. Since 2018, I have organized and facilitated four design-thinking seminars (“applied research inquiries”) in collaboration with the Joint Special Operations University, Naval War College, Rhode Island National Guard, and other military and government organizations.