Jimil Ataman, PhD, MSEd

Area of Study / Keywords

Sustainable Fashion Ethnography Digital Culture Cultural Anthropology Feminist theory

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About

Dr. Jimil Ataman (she/her) is an anthropologist of slow and sustainable fashion, a feminist scholar, and an experimental ethnographer. She earned a joint PhD in Cultural Anthropology and Education, Culture, and Society from the University of Pennsylvania in 2024. She also holds graduate certificates in Media Policy and Communication and Experimental Ethnography. Jimil’s research examines sustainable fashion production and consumption as an innovative fashion system, a digital economy, and a consumer movement. Her ethnographic practice follows the slow fashion community on Instagram and in the Pacific Northwest through their daily work to transform how clothing is made, bought, and sold. She explores how the transformative potential of sustainable fashion is not without contradiction and traces how consumers, makers, industry professionals, and online community members navigate these constraints. 

Dr. Ataman in the News: 

'Buy Canadian' movement extending to clothes- CTV Morning Live Edmonton, March 7th 2025 

“Wide range of labels make identifying Canadian products 'extremely tricky'” Canadian Press, February 3rd, 2025. 

 ‘Canada is Not For Sale’ hat offers tough lesson in domestic manufacturing - Candian Press 

“How to shop more sustainably”  - CBC Edmonton News at Six   

B.C. slow fashion house embraces made-to-order to reduce waste” Canadian Press, December 20th, 2024

Underconsumption Core Tikok Trend Explained Buzzfeed, September 18th 2024. 

Who, What, Why: Jimil Ataman on the politics and contradictions of slow fashion, Penn Today. August 22nd, 2023.

“Learning to Sew at the End of the World” Harpers Bazaar, April 5th 2022.

HECOL 241 - Fashion Industries

An introduction to the soft goods industry including an overview of the apparel sector, apparel production, channels of distribution, fashion oriented products, global competitive influences, and career opportunities.

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HECOL 441 - Textiles and Apparel in the Global Economy

Production and distribution of textiles and apparel in a global context; issues and policy related to international trade agreements; impact of national and international consumer, labor and environmental standards. Prerequisite: HECOL 241.

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Browse more courses taught by Jimil Ataman

Krystal Strong, Jimil Ataman

Journal of African Cultural Studies. 2023 January; 10.1080/13696815.2022.2158788

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Jimil Ataman

SAGE Publications, Ltd.. 2022 January; 10.4135/9781529608946

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View additional publications