Ilya Parkins

Professor Ilya Parkins serves as Associate Department Head and Professor in the Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies department within the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus. With a PhD in Social and Political Thought from York University, Parkins holds multiple leadership roles including Undergraduate Program Advisor and Program Coordinator for GWST.

Parkins' research focuses on feminist theories, particularly epistemologies; the history and theory of fashion; modernity studies; early twentieth-century cultural formations; femininities; and periodical media. Their current SSHRC-funded project (2020-2024) examines wedding apparel imaginaries and stories of feminist and queer individuals through the lens of political values and fashion, with a companion podcast series available at redressingweddings.com.

Analysis of Parkins' recent publications reveals consistent engagement with feminist fashion theory, wedding culture, and the affective politics of dress. Their work explores how clothing functions as both political expression and emotional experience, particularly within queer and feminist contexts. Key themes include the commodification of feminism, the emotional economies of wedding culture, and the relationship between fashion and feminist epistemologies.

• Provost's Award for Teaching Excellence and Innovation (2013)

Parkins teaches courses including Gender, Race, Sexuality and Power I; Women and Popular Culture; Critical Foundations: Feminism and Difference; Perspectives on Gendered Bodies; Feminist Research Methodologies; and Gender, Dress and Fashion: Histories and Theories. They supervise graduate students and have published extensively, including multiple books such as Fashion and Feeling: The Affective Politics of Dress (2023), Fashion, New Feminist Essays (2020), and Poiret, Dior and Schiaparelli: Fashion, Femininity and Modernity (2012).