Faculty

Profile

Romana brings over 25 years of experience in the creative industries as a marketing executive and brand strategist. She has overseen multi-million-dollar product launches and supervised the creative direction for branded environment spaces across the United States. Romana has collaborated with world-renowned designers and spearheaded the launch of international design brands in the North American market. Her scholarly work is dedicated to transforming narrow understandings and stereotypes of marginalized bodies to promote inclusion. Currently, she is completing her PhD in Communication  and Culture at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she previously taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the School of Fashion.

Degrees Held

MA, Fashion - Toronto Metropolitian University - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

BA, Philosophy - University of Waterloo - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Recent Publications

PEER REVIEWED

Mirza, R.B. (2024). Women undercover: Exploring the intersectional identities of Muslim women through modest fashion. International Journal of Fashion Studies. https://doi.org/10.1386/infs_00112_1

Mirza, R. B. (2019) Contemporizing Modesty. Fashion Studies, 1(2), 1-17. Retrieved from https://www.fashionstudies.ca/contemporizing-modesty.

EDITORIAL REVIEWED

2020    Rexhepi, P., Musleh, S., & Mirza, R. (August 14). Bandung Before and After: Islam, the Islamicate and the De/colonial. ReOrient: The Journal of Critical Muslim Studies Blog. https://www.criticalmuslimstudies.co.uk/bandung-before-and-after/

2020    Mirza, Romana B. Brothers and Sisters. Barefruit: A Collection of POC Stories, Poems, Art and More. Story Center. https://www.storycenter.org/barefruit-stories/3

2010    Mirza, Romana B. Communications and Technology for Modern Practice. What is a Brand? In Maurer, Terri L. (Ed.) and Weeks, Katie (Ed.) Interior Design in Practice: Case Studies of Successful Business Models (pp. 60-62). New York, NY: Wiley.

Research Interests

fashion diversity, gender studies, inclusion, social justice, fashion studies, arts-engaged research, intersectionality, orientalism, faith and fashion, decolonization

Awards And Honors

2024-25      Ontario Graduate Scholarship and Edward S. Rogers Sr. Graduate Student Fellowship

2021-24     Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral Award, Government of Canada.

2019-21     Ontario Graduate Scholarship and Edward S. Rogers Sr. Graduate Student Fellowship. 

2019          MRP Book Award for academic excellence in the Master of Arts in Fashion Program, The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University.

2019          Michael Schoenecke Travel Grant, Popular Culture Association Endowment.

2018          Book Prize for History Theory II for academic excellence in the Master of Arts in Fashion Program, The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University.

2017-19     Toronto Metropolitan Graduate Fellowship, Toronto Metropolitan University.