Guided by a desire to understand how we learn to be present and engaged in the world, Dr. Epps-Robertson’s research has taken her from archives to stadiums. Her early learning experiences with her grandmother, visits to museums, and love for the process of writing and research deeply influence her work. She is committed to research and writing that is accessible not solely to academics but, indeed, to the communities she seeks to serve.
BTS, Literacy, Pedagogy & Transcultural Exchange
BTS is arguably one of the most popular bands in the world. With music that crosses genres and invites reflection, they provide their fans (known as ARMY) with joy, hope, comfort, and inspiration. BTS’s influence surfaces and connects across borders and languages. As an educator with over twenty years in a variety of classrooms, Dr. Epps-Robertson has found BTS to be a source of inspiration for thinking about issues related to pedagogy, centering joy in teaching and learning, active listening, life writing, and fandom as a site for learning and developing transcultural citizenship practices. She is currently working on essays and a book manuscript in these areas.
For more on her research on BTS and ARMY, you might check out Dr. Epps-Robertson’s webinar on BTS and ARMY sponsored by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (Washington, D.C.) and the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University. You can listen to her interview with students from Boston University’s COMLAB, where Dr. Epps-Robertson discusses the cultural impact of BTS and her ongoing journey of experiencing their music and art. You can also listen to Dr. Epps-Robertson share her research on BTS for The Institute for the Arts & Humanities at the University of North Carolina.
#BTSSyllabus Project
The #BTSSyllabus Project is an in-progress, collaborative project aiming to make research, teaching, and writing about BTS more accessible. Using a crowdsourcing approach, we strive to catalog content from various genres (academic articles, film, vlogs, blogs, journalistic, archival) and authors/creators. Based on collective contributions, this project is run by Dr. Candace Epps-Robertson, Dr. Jinha Lee, and Cassie Nguyen.
For more on the history and impetus for the #BTSSyllabus, see Dr. Epps-Robertson’s “The #BTSSyllabus is a global resource fueled by an ARMY of experts” (The Conversation, June 2021).
Race, Literacy, & Citizenship
Dr. Epps-Robertson’s first book, Resisting Brown: Race, Literacy, and Citizenship in the Heart of Virginia, examines the literacy program of the Prince Edward County Free School Association (Free School).
After the Brown vs. Board of Education rulings (1954, 1955), many localities in America resisted integration. Prince Edward County, Virginia, was one of the most extreme. Rather than fund integrated schools, the county’s board of supervisors closed public schools from 1959-1964. The Free School stood as one response to the closures. Drawing upon extensive archival research and interviews with former students, Epps-Robertson analyzes public discourse that supported the school closures as an effort and manifestation of citizenship and demonstrated how the establishment of the Free School can be seen as a rhetorical response to racist ideologies. The school’s mission statements, philosophies, and commitment to literacy argued against racialized constructions of citizenship. Prince Edward County is a microcosm of America’s race, literacy, and citizenship struggle.
More than an academic contribution to histories of rhetoric, race, and literacy, this book was also an effort for her to honor stories from home. Growing up with stories from her family from Prince Edward County, her first book was an effort to preserve stories from home, the archives, and former Free School students.
This book won the 2019 Book of the Year award from the Conference on Community Writing.
Please explore the links below for writing and research related to this era.
“Writing with your family at the kitchen table: Balancing Home and Academic Communities.” Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, Vol 14, No 1, (2016).
“The Race to Erase Brown vs. Board of Education: The Virginia Way and the Rhetoric of Massive Resistance.” Rhetoric Review 35: 2 (2016): 108-120. Print. *Winner of the 2016 Therese J. Enos Award for Best Article in Rhetoric Review
“Teaching Must Be Our Demonstration!:” Literacy, Citizenship, and Activism in the Prince Edward County Free School Association, 1963-1964″ Literacy in Composition Studies (Spring 2015)
“Massive Resistance and Harry F. Byrd” ~ A guest blog post for The Blog of The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library (University of Virginia)
Featured interview essay with Dr. Edward Peeples, noted Virginia civil rights fighter and academic~ Spring 2014 issue of Reflections with an accompanying podcast.
Candace Epps-Robertson, Ph.D. 