Family and Consumer Sciences is the people-centered science, focused on supporting individuals, families, and communities live healthy successful lives through the provision of education, research, and technology.
Within Family and Consumer Sciences - Human Sciences - Health and Human Sciences - Home Ecology - Home Economics - are all terms that have been used to refer to the discipline and sub-areas of the FCS discipline. By clicking on the images to your right, you will learn more about each term and its application within Family and Consumer Sciences.
"Family and Consumer Sciences: Overview of a 100-year-old industry sector," click here.
Career pathways common to FCS professionals can be found here and here.
Meet FCS professionals who work nationally, statewide, and locally and the exemplary programs they have helped to bring to fruition, click here.
Meet Christian Gray: In 2024, he was a graduate degree student in the NC State Agricultural Education and Human Sciences program, he founded DIVERSE, which aims to provide young people with the tools and resources they need to succeed.
Meet Goldie Prelogar-Hernandez, Ed.S.. Goldie is a Certified Personal and Family Financial Educator (CPFFE) and Associate Instructional Professor for the Family & Consumer Sciences program in the Department of Teaching and Leadership at Pittsburg State University.
Meet Mary Ethel Creswell, the first woman to receive a Bachelor's degree from University of Georgia. She received a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics in 1919. She went on to become the first woman faculty member at University of Georgia and later in 1933, she became the first dean of the School of Home Economics.
Meet Dr. Gwendolyn A. Newkirk, in 1971, she became the first African American chair of the College of Home Economics, now known as Family and Consumer Sciences, and in 1975, she was named the first African American President of the American Home Economics Association, now known as the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Meet Flemmie Pansy Kittrell, she graduated from Hampton Institute (later renamed Hampton University) with a bachelors in Home Economics and later became the first Black woman to get a doctorate in nutrition at any college or university. She received her doctorate from Cornell University. During World War II, Kittrell and her students taught local families how to ration and substitute food. Later, Kittrell became the head of Howard University’s home economics department and traveled extensively to advocate for the role home economics could play in helping to transform society.
Additional information can be found in our digital resources, found here.