Gabriel Peoples, IRT ’07 Gabriel’s new book, Goin’ Viral: Uncontrollable Black Performance, was published in the University of Illinois Press’ prestigious New Black Studies series in July. In it, Gabriel grapples with how Black people (as well as Black representations) have been going viral since before the Internet and after it. In each chapter, Gabriel focuses on a performance, considering its past, present, and future, and offers insight into how it went viral and continues to do so.
The IRT is thrilled to have Heather Moore Roberson, IRT ’07, ’10 Ryan Sermon, IRT ’10, and Renée Wilmot, IRT ’12, ’17 return as Summer Workshop Co-Curriculum Coordinators. They took a few moments to share what brings them back and their expectations for this year’s workshop.
Heather Moore Roberson is the Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Allegheny College. Heather received her M.A. and Ph.D. from the American Studies program at Purdue University.
What motivates you to return as a Co-Curriculum Coordinator?
I have had the honor and privilege to serve as a member of the faculty since 2016. After I received my Ph.D., it was vital for me to get reconnected with the next generation of teacher scholars who will transform higher education. I would not be a faculty member/administrator if it wasn’t for the IRT Summer Workshop. IRT continues to be an integral part of my village. As a curriculum coordinator, I get to share my experiences and insights that will help scholars thrive in K-16 environments.
How does psychoanalysis animate racial passing and how does racial passing inspire psychoanalysis?Despite long-held beliefs that the two have nothing in common, I assert that psychoanalysis is relevant for understanding the reasons behind jumping the color line. Beginning with the premise that Sigmund Freud created psychoanalysis to contend with his own anxieties about race, I explore canonical and non-canonical passing narratives using psychoanalytic perspectives. By closely reading narratives by Charles Chesnutt, James Weldon Johnson, Nella Larsen, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Jessie Fauset, Anita Reynolds, Danzy Senna, Vera Caspary, Anatole Broyard, and Philip Roth, I advance several provocative claims about the intersections of passing and psychoanalysis. Chief among them are the youthful trauma and psychological consequences of racial passing. For instance, while the death drive motivates fictional racial passers to hasten their own deaths, those who pass in real life often seek their own immortality through print despite hiding their Blackness. This interdisciplinary work threads psychoanalysis and other theoretical perspectives through persuasive close readings of twentieth and twenty-first-century racial passing narratives, concluding with a meditation on today’s ineffective language of race. Scholars of race, African American Literature, American Literature, and psychoanalysis will find my book compelling.
Brittney Yancy, IRT ’03 Brittney holds a masters degree in U.S. History and earned a Ph.D. in U.S. History last year from the University of Connecticut. Brittney is currently an Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies at Illinois College.
As we head into July, the IRT virtual Summer Workshop Faculty and staff are busy finalizing curriculum, organizing alumni and professional panels, consortium liaison meetings and other events throughout the upcoming month. Join us in welcoming this year’s summer faculty!
Renée Wilmot, IRT ’12, ’17
My name is Renée Wilmot, I use she/her pronouns. Currently, I am a Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University in the Teacher Education program. My research interests include (1) the historical legacy of Black women as educators and activists in the Black community and (2) Black girls’ practices of thriving and resisting in white supremacist schooling structures. I am originally from Virginia and I am a former secondary English/Language Arts teacher.
Advice for the current cohort Do your best to commit 100% of yourself. Take advantage of this opportunity – take risks and push yourself.
Suggested Reading
Ebony & Ivy by Craig Steven Wilder
White Architects of Black Education by William H. Watkins
White Rage by Carol Anderson
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Black Feminism in Qualitative Inquiry by Venus E. Evans-Winters
My biggest takeaway from my IRT experience was that this is a safe space for me to push myself, risk failure, and then get up to try again. I had never been in a space where I could “mess up” academically, experiment with time management and reading strategies, and take risks.
My grounding quote for this year: “We protect and nurture our collective well-being. We strive to make our home place a positive environment for everyone. We all agree that integrity and care enhance all our lives.” (hooks, ,p. 101)
My current favorite song: “Dim All the Lights” by Donna Summer
Institute for Recruitment of Teachers 
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