‘Academic ARMY’ gather in one place from around the world to discuss BTS — Global Conference in London 2020
Almost two years ago, over 100 people from across 30 countries came to Kingston University just outside of London to attend a two-day BTS: Global Interdisciplinary Conference.
Researchers, scholars, and fans alike who have an affection for BTS gathered together to analyze the BTS phenomenon with an academic perspective and to exchange insights.
ARMYs are often misunderstood or misrepresented as “young teenage girls” who are “obsessing over a boyband.” This BTS conference certainly wasn’t about “fans” just hanging out. ARMYs and academics attended this academic space to learn and discuss the impact of BTS.
The ultimate aim was,
To create a conference where fans could come and it wasn’t just academics speaking at each other, but it was listening in a learning community…We wanted to say to fans and undergraduate students and mothers “come along and let’s talk about this”. — Dr. Colette Balmain, Metro UK Interview
With over 200 abstracts received, the BTS: A Global Interdisciplinary Conference sought to highlight cultural studies, psychology, anthropology, art theory, media studies, philosophy, literature, linguistics, politics, international relations, performance art, culture, mental health awareness, identities, and intersectional practices: gender, sexuality, race, age, dis/ability, education, and the list goes on.
The entire conference had three keynote speakers, 38-panel discussions, and around 103 presentations.
Let’s take a trip back to memory lane of this event!
Keynote Speakers for the 2020 BTS: A Global Interdisciplinary Conference
**Please note that these summaries of each lecture aren’t in full but only a snippet.**
Professor Dr. LEE Jiyoung, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Author of BTS, Art Revolution
The ARMY community most widely knows Dr. Lee for her book titled, BTS, Art Revolution. Currently, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, she specializes in the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s work.
BTS, Art Revolution: BTS Meets Deleuze delivers an insight into the BTS phenomenon of the ongoing changes in society as new art forms begin to create connectivity in the relationship between the spectator and creator. In this case, it’s BTS and their fandom, ARMY.
Network-Image of BTS and ARMY
Dr. Lee compared watching BTS videos as a form of installation video art. No single way of seeing BTS’ videos, amount of times, or the different orders we may watch them, will lead to a new experience.
“The message of all albums of all period are interelated , but the story continues and repeats with different variations.”— Dr. LEE Jiyoung, BTS: A Global Interdisciplinary Conference 2020
Another point she spoke was about ARMY being a “collective intelligence.”
Collective intelligence can be an assumption that each person has something to contribute. As Henry Jenkins says, collective intelligence is said to be “open-ended and profoundly interdisciplinary; they slip and slide across borders and draw on the combined knowledge of a more diverse community.”
Twitter: @JeeLee06767883
Dr. JIN Youngsun, Professor Emerita at Korea University, Author of Nam June Paik, a Global Artist
At the conference, Dr. Jin Youngsun focused on making connections between artist Nam June Paik and BTS.
Nam June Paik is internationally recognized as the “Father of Video Art” as he developed a powerful tool and methodology for video art.
Born in Korea, his work includes video sculptures, installations, performances, videotapes & television productions. He had a global presence & influence, and his innovative art & visionary ideas continue to inspire a new generation of artists.”
‘The Future is Now, Planet Paik, BTS Universe.’
According to Dr. Jin, Nam Jun Paik often compared video art to bibimbap. He believed that his video work and methodology matched the making of bibimbap. Bibimbap represented the essence of Korean culture. Rice, mountain vegetables, and sauce are mixed with each other and harmonized into a new taste, without each flavor standing out on its own
Nam Jun Paik declared, “As long as Korea has the bibimbap spirit, it can be confident about the multimedia era.”
During her presentation, she showed many of Nam Jun Paik’s works in correlation to BTS! Here are just a few to mention:
Fake Love MV & Extended Version, 2018
A strong resemblance to the music video scenes in which SUGA is rapping his part at 2:34,
The extended version of the Fake Love MV shows extra scenes of the bridge of the song where the piano Yoongi smashes explodes in flames.
LOVE YOURSELF 承 Her ‘Serendipity’ Comeback Trailer, 2017
Paik did not distinguish the universe where satellites float from the universe within our mind.
Mercury, 1991, Nam Jun Paik
Vega, Nam Jun Paik
@LadyAsheru via Twitter
LOVE YOURSELF 轉 Tear ‘Singularity’ Comeback Trailer/Performance, 2018
“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, & he will tell you the truth .” — Oscar Wilde
At the end of V’s comeback trailer for Singularity, he is seen putting on the mask fully with the ending lyrics being, “Tell me, if my voice is fake, should I have not thrown myself away, Tell me, if even the pain is fake, what should I have done then.”
@LadyAsheru via Twitter
BTS ’4TH MUSTER‘ Happy Ever After,’ 2018
Left Picture: Moon is the Oldest TV, 1965, Nam Jun Paik
Right Picture: BTS inside an inflatable ARMY Lightstick during their annual fan meeting.
Paik presented the original version of Moon is the Oldest TV in 1965, which was 4 years before the first moon landing by humans.
@LadyAsheru via Twitter
‘IDOL’ MV, 2018
Top Picture: <Video Fish> 1975, Nam June Paik
Bottom Picture: Scene for BTS’ Idol MV.
Over half a century ago, Nam Jun Paik made electronics a powerful tool and ally of art. And today, BTS is following in Paik’s footsteps and adding new dimensions to it, opening a path for communication, sharing love, and good-will through the name of ‘Total Art.’ — Dr. JIN Youngsun, BTS: A Global Interdisciplinary Conference 2020
Twitter: @ysjin10
If you are interested in Nam Jun Paik, Airang has a special 2 part documentary, Nam June Paik’s Art and Revolution.
KIM Youngmi, Marketing Expert, Organiser of BTS Insight Forum (Behind and Beyond BTS)
Youngmi is CEO of Mushroom, a marketer who organized ‘BTS Insight Forum — Beyond & Behind’ held in Seoul in August 2019.
As the last presenter for the conference’s keynote sessions, Youngmi’s showed us about herself, some of her favourite marketing books such as Orangic Marketing, Organic Media plus her agency called MUSH or Mushroom (Mature, Unique, Special, and Holistic).
She also shared the insights in creating the ‘BTS Insight Forum — Beyond & Behind.’ This Global forum discussed BTS’s contribution through various disciplines. Over 500 people attended and watched this conference in 3 days with 18 guest speakers. She also spoke about visiting the parents of the children who died in the Sewol Tragedy with @ItalianARMY_BTS plus her experience in attending the Speak Yourself: Love Yourself World Tour in Saudi Arabia.
Twitter: @annakim0531
An interdisciplinary book will be published as part of this 2020 BTS Conference project that is yet to be released. Once we have an update, we will announce this on our Twitter page.
ARMY Academic and Scholars Share their Experience
“A lot of the fans do more work than academics! They’re more knowledgeable, and that’s not acknowledged enough. People don’t see the invisible labour that goes into fandoms.’” — Dr. Colette Balmain, Metro UK Interview
Andrew, Philippines
He presented his research paper titled, “Connecting Flights: Ekphrasis and Intermediality in the WINGS Short Films.”
On the first day of 2020, a 12-hour flight took me to London for the BTS Conference. Much of that time was spent thinking about several things. I was flying from Seoul, in the middle of our annual family Christmas vacation. I was five months into my Ph.D., and as my thesis is on BTS, my wife and I knew that this conference was crucial, even if it felt off-putting to spend the new year away from each other. I was also going to be in Europe for the first time, and while I had a detailed itinerary, I was also hoping it wouldn’t be a lonely trip. I thought about how much it took for me to get here, and I wanted to make the most of my trip, which I knew meant making friends, but I wasn’t sure how to do so.
You see, as much as ARMY likes to showcase our diversity — and we certainly are! — there were a lot more women doing research into BTS than there were men. The Kingston conference programme indicated as much. I knew that, in this space, I would have to be respectful. I knew my stuff, but I swore I wouldn’t mansplain. I was here to listen and be receptive, not to dominate the way male scholars have done for so long in spaces like this.
I found the BTS Conference experience an inspiring experience. There was a great exchange of ideas. I learned so much from so many scholars; I was able to share and gain confidence in the points I was making. (I also met someone — just an attendee, not a presenter — who I cited for my MA thesis!) The intellectual space was so invigorating and certainly set the tone for the rest of my first year as a Ph.D. candidate. More than that, however, was how the collegiality was palpable. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I felt so warm and welcomed in this space. I started thinking of it as an experience in affective scholarship.
A year after, with several months of pandemic fears that are still ongoing, I see the BTS conference as a bright spot. It’s a beacon that reminds me how 2020 began, but also, more importantly, it gives me hope that, well, life is ultimately beautiful and warm and welcoming, and all this we’re going through will not last. It will be spring again, as it always is where ARMY are concerned.
I remain in touch with friends I’ve made; I think about those I met but who I never got the chance to spend much time with and that fills me with a little regret. But the most important thing really is how the conference was the space where we all met face-to-face, but the community we are was already there even before the event and it continues afterwards. I literally spend every day thinking about this community of ARMY scholars and how honoured I am to have been welcomed in it.
Twitter: @EnterDuration
Fatima, Canada
She presented her paper titled, “BTS and Nietzsche: The Dionysian vs Apollonian Aesthetic.”
As an undergraduate student three scholastic terms away from graduation, presenting a research paper at an international conference was beyond the expectations I had for my academic journey. Presenting at a conference had always seemed like such a far milestone, especially considering my internal battle with imposter syndrome in such a competitive and quick-paced field. I have, unknowingly, dedicated years of my life to the study and love of literature, even before deciding to specialize in it at university. I have come to discover this fact after entering postsecondary education because it revealed to me that “literature” extends to what is beyond the written word, it is the study of all forms of artistic expression including pop culture, which is often disregarded and dismissed in academic circles.
So, when I came across the call for papers from Kingston University for their BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference, I knew I had to take part in this event because of the incredible precedent it sets in normalizing both the merging of academic and pop culture studies, as well as broaden accessibility in terms of who partakes in these events. Academic conferences are often male-dominated and incredibly stuffy, restricted to people who possess a specific amount of academic knowledge and overloaded with academic jargon that proves confusing, so to take part in a female-dominated academic space, with individuals from so many different fields, educational backgrounds and expertise was a breath of a fresh air and the best introduction I could have asked for into the academic/research sphere.
I had the pleasure of delving headfirst into my research and combining topics that I love, BTS and philosophy, and challenging myself to reach bigger heights professionally. It turned out to be an extremely rewarding experience because I was able to meet incredible individuals who I shared so much in common with despite our differing fields. I was able to share my passion for music, my love for BTS, and my commitment to my field all at once with an audience that appreciated and understood the subject matter. This is an experience that I recommend all students, academics, and professionals alike to take part in because it is one of the safest and welcoming spaces I have had the pleasure to be in. It has been a year since the conference, and the memories I have of the support and validation I garnered from my peers and superiors alike works to remind me daily of my belonging in this field and this community. It drives away much of my self-doubt and has provided me with a healthy foundation that I know will last a lifetime.
Twitter: @fatimamjja
Courtney, USA
She presented her paper titled, “Artists for Healing”: Anxieties of Youth, Storytelling, and Healing through BTS.”
A year ago, after narrowly making our connecting flight and our luggage getting delayed somewhere along the way, I spent my first day in London mostly sleeping and running through my conference presentation. I was rattled, and it wasn’t just from the flight anxiety. I hadn’t presented at a conference since I was an undergrad (which was at a conference full of other undergrads), and having been out of my graduate program for a couple of years, I was worried about presenting research to an audience. Thankfully, I wasn’t in one of the first panels to present, so I soon found my fears unwarranted. I was in a place of other fans and researchers, many of whom had the same passions as myself. Though I can’t say it wasn’t still nerve-racking, because I’m not a fan of public speaking, the BTS Conference was certainly one of the highlights of my 2020.
The pandemic wasn’t something anyone could have predicted, and many of our lives changed in ways we didn’t expect. It was a traumatic year, but I can honestly look back and say that I’m at least thankful for the opportunity to participate in the conference, because it gave me hope that I could create content, conduct research, and share my passion with others out there, even when it felt like I was alone. Presenting at the conference brought me in contact with new friends, and I’ve had additional opportunities to collaborate on projects, continue my own research, and get some of my work out into the world since then. I think I have to give credit to the BTS Conference for bringing that spark back for me. I don’t know how far I would have gotten without the encouragement and validation I got from that event.
For many writers (and some researchers too), sharing our work is deeply personal. And if you’re like me with a small social media presence, it’s difficult to even get your work in front of the right people. I see the BTS Conference as one of the first steps that brought ARMY voices together, and in particular, ARMY across various fields of academia and industry. I deeply appreciate that the event was inclusive so that independent researchers like myself didn’t have to feel shut out. When I’m having a hard time working on my own, despite the love and care I have for each of my projects, I look back on January 2020 and remember why I continue to do this work. Lots of great things came out of the first conference, and I’m excited to see where everyone goes next.
Twitter: @writer_court
Nicole, USA
Known as Research BTS 🔍, she presented her paper titled, “#BTS: Social network analysis of the ARMY fandom’s ability to dominate voting activities on Twitter.”
When I reflect on the BTS Conference, I think about how I almost didn’t go. When I found out that my presentation was accepted in the fall of 2019, I had just started ResearchBTS and my Ph.D. program. I was excited — until imposter syndrome kicked in, and I was filled with lots of questions: How did I even get accepted? Is this worth me traveling to London? Do I really have anything to offer? What will everyone think of me? I took a chance after I finally told myself that I might regret it one day if I don’t go, and I do often think about how my life would be different if that were the case.
As an introvert, the idea of being at a conference — especially alone — and having to interact with people I didn’t know was my nightmare. But when I showed up, I remember feeling so welcomed and like I was at home. No matter how old you were, what your education status was, and where you came from, everyone treated each other like long lost friends finally reuniting. There wasn’t any intimidation, just support for each other and happiness that we can all share our diverse ideas and perspectives, as well as our love for BTS. Through this experience, I gained new friends and found my confidence that assured me I was in the right place.
This was just the beginning of the potential we all saw for this group. However, none of us knew that after leaving the conference, the world would change due to the pandemic. But what I’ve been so inspired by is the resilience and determination of those who didn’t let this situation stop them from doing what we all set out to accomplish since that conference — to show the world the impact of BTS and ARMY. Through this same community, we’ve seen the evolution of new research and projects in 2020, such as Bangtan Scholars, the Rhizomatic Revolutionary Review (R3 Journal), BTS Syllabus, and more, and I can’t wait to see how far we continue to go moving forward.
Twitter: @ResearchBTS
Final Thoughts
A few shared thoughts about experiencing the BTS conference were fan experience, culture, learning, acceptance, and BTS.
Academic conferences can sometimes be intimidating to attend. But the BTS Conference was far from that.
“We’re living in a global society, and we were interested in how products and people transcend fixed boundaries” and “BTS is the most suitable case because they speak to the world and for the world even while maintaining their local elements, as in, their Koreanness.” — Dr. Colette Balmain, Korean News Translated by @writer_court
The whole conference, to some extent, felt like a BTS concert without even having BTS there! Every room you entered or conversation started, you felt an instant connection.
Just like how a few hours before a concert starts you may want to meet with ARMY friends from Twitter for the first time, trade BTS fan-made merchandise, or enjoy the ambiance, we had the pleasure of meeting various fanbases and projects. Such as ARMY Magazine, Borasaek Vision, UKBTSARMATION, the Rhizomatic Revolutionary Review (R3 Journal), and BTS Syllabus. A unique experience that doesn’t happen in a BTS and ARMY event a lot as we are a global fandom with so many of us.
One of the most memorable moments would be that we all had suddenly remembered that BTS was performing at the Golden Disk Awards. But that didn’t stop us!
During our lunch break, an ARMY asked the organizer if we could watch BTS performances that we missed. Next thing you know, you had some ARMYs dancing in the back, others cheering the fanchat, waving their hands in the air or holding their lightstick/phones, and singing out loud.
We may or may have not also set the conference panels a little late.
Just check these tweets out!
This two-day event for many ARMYs who attended would have been their last fan-related BTS event for which many of us weren’t prepared for a world pandemic to arise and for BTS not to tour.
Being part of a community is just as important, in some ways even more so now than before. At a pre-COVID event, you would sit down at your table in the groups with whom you will be participating in the workshop, get to know them, and stick with them till the end of the evening.
Although things have shifted within the last year, whether it be in-person or through the digital realm, this event reminds us what ARMY fanship is really about: building a sense of community and BTS being the core.
We would like to finish by making the following thank you’s to those who made this conference possible. Thank you to the organizer, Dr. Colette Balmain, Kingston University, and the team that worked behind the scenes, your contribution proved instrumental in making this conference happen!
Finally, a special thank you to Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook. Without you pursuing your dreams and delivering your honesty through your music and being yourself, ARMY would have never come together.
Many of the BTS projects or fanbases wouldn’t have existed. Thank you for providing a space of acceptance and love.
If you missed the first BTS Conference, don’t worry. A third one will take place this year!
Key Note Speakers this year include Paulo Coelho and Kim Youngdae.
Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian author considered as one of the most influential authors of our times. His books have sold more than 320 million copies worldwide, have been released in 170 countries and been translated into 83 languages.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1947, he soon discovered his vocation for writing. He worked as a director, theater actor, songwriter and journalist. His collaboration with Brazilian composer and singer Raul Seixas gave some of the greatest classic rock songs in Brazil. In 1986, a special meeting led him to make the pilgrimage to Saint James Compostela (in Spain). The Road to Santiago was not only a common pilgrimage but a turning point in his existence. A year later, he wrote The Pilgrimage, an autobiographical novel that is considered the beginning of his career.
In the following year, Coelho published The Alchemist. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become an international bestselling phenomenon, remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for over 427 consecutive weeks.
He has received numerous prestigious international awards including the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Grinzane Cavour Book Award and the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, to name a few. He has been a member of the Academy of Letters of Brazil since 2002 and a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations since 2007. In 2003 he received the Guinness World Record for most translations of a single title (The Alchemist) signed by the author in one sitting and several years after, in 2009, he received a new Guinness World Record for the most translated author for the same book (The Alchemist).
The man behind the author likes to write and practices Kyudo — a meditative kind of archery. He loves reading, walking, football and computers. In that sense, he has always maintained close contact with his readers but now, and thanks to the new media, he has established an incredible feedback with them. Paulo was the second most influential celebrity on Twitter in 2010 according to Forbes and he is the writer with the highest number of followers on social media.
Paulo Coelho and Christina Oiticica Foundation, with its seat in Geneva, Switzerland, was established as a not-for-profit foundation in 2014. In 2018, the Foundation merged with the Paulo Coelho and Christina Oiticica Charitable Foundation.
Kim Youngdae is a music critic and an author, who serves as a member of Selection Committee for Korean Music Awards. Kim studied business administration at Yonsei University in Korea and completed Ph.D program in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. Born and raised in South Korea, he moved to Seattle in 2007 where he has been closely observing American pop music trends and the development of K-pop for over a decade. Kim first started critiquing music in the mid-1990s under the online alias toojazzy, publishing widely through online magazines. Kim served as a Selection Committee member for “Top 100 Albums in Korean Popular Music” projects organized by Kyunghyang (2007) and the Hankyoreh (2018), two of the most influential daily newspapers in Korea. Kim contributes his critical columns in various mainstream media outlets, including Vulture by New York Magazine and MTV, and operates a YouTube channel that analyzes K-pop in depth. He is an author of multiple publications in Korea, including Top 90 Albums of the 1990s and Korean Hip-hop: The Footprints of its Passion , and translated American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3 into Korean.
The deadline to submit papers, panels, and workshops is March 31, 2022, 11:59 PM PST!
Submit: https://bts-conference-seoul.com/papers
Make sure to watch the BTS Conference official Twitter account once registration becomes available!
Regular:$200 (on or before 30 April 2022)
Students: $70 USD
Dinners, accommodations, flights, or VISAS are not included in the registration fee.
**While this conference is intended to take place in person in Seoul + Hybrid, the conference may need to be moved online due to any changes of COVIS-19 restrictions.**
You can visit the official conference website here:
Written by Admin C.
She would especially like to thank Andrew, Courtney, Fatima, and Nicole for sharing their experience in attending the 2020 BTS Conference in London.
Bangtan Scholars is a place for current and aspiring scholars of BTS to connect, inspire, and grow together. It’s our hope to create a collaborative, inclusive network that empowers those engaging or interested in BTS scholarship to promote each other’s work, exchange ideas, and expand knowledge across different disciplines and around the world.
Twitter: @BangtanScholars.
