Education

• PhD in Media, Art and Text, Virginia Commonwealth University
• MA in English, Appalachian State University
• MA in Appalachian Studies, Appalachian State University
• BA in English, Virginia Commonwealth University

Research Interests

Paul Robertson’s research interests are in Southern/Appalachian representation across literature and mass media. His focus is the Grit Lit genre and the late 20th century subcultural landscape in which it proliferated. Paul Robertson also works with Appalachian folklore, in primary-source and archival preservation contexts, and with comic arts publications. Some topics that frequently appear in his research and teaching are late Cold War-era dystopian imaginings, eschatological frameworks, constructions of American whiteness, ethno-regional identity, and documentary filmmaking in Appalachia. He teaches an array of courses in American literature, from surveys to upper-level courses in Southern and Appalachian regional literatures. Paul Robertson’s classes tend to have a strong interdisciplinary orientation, with an emphasis on historical and cultural contexts.

Select Publications

• Robertson, Paul Lester. “Indians of the Apocalypse: Native Appropriations and Representations in 1980s Dystopic Films and Comic Books.” The Journal of Popular Culture 51.1 (February 2018): 68–90.
• Robertson, Paul. “Ballads and Bytes: The Digitally Reproduced Folksong Collections of Dr. I. G. Greer and Dr. W. Amos Abrams.” North Carolina Folklore Journal 55.2 (Fall-Winter 2008): 54–64.
• Robertson, Paul. “Manuscripts, Mountain Music, and Megabytes: ‘So Mote It Ever Be: The Folksong Heritage of North Carolina’s Northern Blue Ridge Mountains.’” Journal for the Society of North Carolina Archivists 6.1 (Summer 2008): 26–40.
• Casto, Erin, Sara E. Harris, Eddie Huffman, Melanie Keyes, Sharon Price, and Paul Robertson. “Revisionist with a Cause: Interview with Wilma Dunaway.” Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review 31.2 (Winter 2004): 166–191.

Affiliations

• Appalachian Studies Association
• Popular Culture Association

Courses

• ENGL 206: American Literature II
• ENGL 215: Reading Literature
• ENGL 380: Southern Literature
• ENGL 381: Multiethnic Literature
• ENGL 391: Topics: Appalachian Women Writers

Links

• Blue Ridge Views News Videos, Appalachian State University Libraries
• I.G. Greer Folksong Collection, Appalachian State University Libraries
• W. Amos Abrams Folksong Collection, Appalachian State University Libraries