
Brent Epperson
Assistant Professor | Faculty staff
Profile
Brent Epperson is an Assistant Professor of Conflict Studies at 性爱学堂. Since 2014, he has worked as an ombuds in Europe, Canada, and the United States and continues to be an active practitioner. His professional experience in conflict management directly informs his teaching and research.
As a partner at , Professor Epperson provides part-time conflict management services to higher education institutions, academic and sports associations, healthcare organisations, and other sectors. He currently serves on the board of the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE) and is a member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA), the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman (FCO), and is an associate member of the Association of Canadian College and University Ombuds (ACCUO). Prior to joining 性爱学堂, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in public policy at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France.
Professor Epperson welcomes student supervision in areas such as ombuds practice, conflict management, public sector governance, issue (re)framing in public policy debates, media and social media studies, and DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) policy and practice.
- Ombuds practice
- Conflict management and resolution
- Public sector governance and administrative fairness
- Issue (re)framing in public policy debates
- Media and social media framing
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging practices
Ph.D., University of Alberta, 2017
M.P.A., University of Montana, 2009
B.A. (Hons), University of Montana, 2007
Refereed Book Chapters:
Graham, Diedrick, Brent Epperson, Heather McGhee-Peggs, and Julie Boncompain. (2025). 鈥淒iversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Ombuds Space.鈥 The Organizational Ombuds: Foundations, Fundamentals, and the Future. International Ombuds Association (IOA). 2025.聽https://www.ombudsassociation.org/ioa-book-publishing
Epperson, Brent. (2023). 鈥淐hallenging Narratives to Neoliberalism in Media Representations of American Health Reform: the Massachusetts and Utah Cases (2002-2011).鈥 Neoliberal Contentions. Edited by Catherine Kellogg and Lois Harder. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Boily, Fr茅d茅ric and Brent Epperson. (2020). 鈥淎nalysing Conservative Media and Organisational Representations of LGBTQ+ Rights in Canada: An Ideological Clash?鈥 In The Palgrave Handbook of Gender, Sexuality, and Canadian Politics. Edited by Manon Tremblay and Joanna Everitt. Toronto: Palgrave.
Epperson, Brent, Britta Baron, and Carl G. Amrhein. (2019). 鈥淐anada in a Global System of Higher Education: The Role of Community Engagement.鈥 In The Oxford Handbook of Higher Education Systems and University Management. Edited by Stephen Crump, Tony Drew, and Gordon Redding. London: Oxford University Press.
Boncompain, Julie and Brent Epperson. (2018). 鈥淎ddressing Harassment in the Promotion of Equity and Fairness 鈥 A Comparative Analysis of Canadian University Ombudsman Offices.鈥 In El Acoso Escolar: Una Visi贸n Comparada. Edited by Alfredo S谩nchez-Casta帽eda. Defensor铆a de los Derechos Univeristarios de la UNAM. M茅xico: Presa de la Universidad Nacional Aut贸noma de M茅xico.
Refereed Journal Articles
Armstrong, L. L., Watt, E., Potter, C. L., & Epperson, B. L. March 2025. Meaning mindset theory: a transdiagnostic approach to mental health promotion and intervention for children.聽Frontiers in Psychology,聽15, 1467332.
Epperson, Brent and Laura Armstrong. July 2024. Reconceptualising Ombuds Practice to Improve Mental Health with 鈥淓ASE.鈥 ENOHE Yearbook (ISBN: 978-3-902906-712). https://enohe.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ENOHE-Yearbook-2024.pdf
Johns, Daniel and Brent Epperson. November 2022. 鈥淥n Being an Ombudsman: Protecting the Public Interest While Navigating the Minefield of Policy Networks.鈥 Canadian Journal of Bioethics.
Boncompain, Julie, Heather McGhee-Peggs, and Brent Epperson. November 2022.聽 鈥淓quity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Case Study – Where Does the Ombuds Fit?鈥 Canadian Journal of Bioethics.
Genieys, William, Mohammad Sa茂d Darviche, and Brent Epperson. January 2022. 鈥淣ew Policy Elites and the Affordable Care Act: The Making of Long-Term Insiders.鈥澛燡ournal of Policy History,聽34 (1), 1-24.
Genieys, William, Mohammad Sa茂d Darviche et Brent Epperson. November 2020. 芦聽Les nouveaux gardiens des politiques de l鈥櫭塼at en perspective compar茅e聽: Contr么le des co没ts et 茅lites des politiques de sant茅 aux 脡tats-Unis et en France聽禄聽En Gouvernement et action publique, Vol 9, No. 3.
Epperson, Brent. Review of Le Conservatisme 脿 l鈥櫭坮e Trump. December 2018. Dirig茅 par Rafael Jacob et Julien Tourreille Presses de l鈥橴niversit茅 du Qu茅bec, 2018, Qu茅bec. Canadian Journal of Political Science. Vol. 51. No. 4.
Boily, Fr茅d茅ric and Brent Epperson. December 2014. 鈥淨uebec and Alberta: The Clash of Perceptions (2003-2012).鈥 Canadian Political Science Review. Vol. 8. No. 2. http://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/511
Other Publications
McGhee Peggs, H., Boncompain, J., & Epperson, B. April 30, 2024. Are faculty members fair? Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/2024/04/30/why-and-how-faculty-members-should-demonstrate-they-are-fair
Epperson, Brent and Julie Boncompain. February 2018. 鈥淎ddressing Harassment in Canadian Higher Education Institutions.鈥澛燭he Querelis Quarterly. Issue 1.
Epperson, Brent, 鈥淯niversities are ill-served by a corporate governance model鈥 University Affairs. August 20, 2014.聽 https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/universities-are-ill-served-by-a-corporate-governance-model/
Epperson, Brent. 鈥淪tudent governments are the cradle of the old boys club.鈥 Montreal Gazette. March 20, 2014.
Epperson, Brent. 芦聽La r茅forme de l鈥櫭ヾucation postsecondaire doit 锚tre inclusive.聽禄聽 Affaires Universitaires. February 19, 2014. https://www.affairesuniversitaires.ca/opinion/a-mon-avis/la-reforme-de-leducation-postsecondaire-doit-etre-inclusive/
Epperson, Brent. 鈥淢ore work needed to attract foreign students.鈥 Edmonton Journal. February 19, 2014.
Epperson, Brent. 鈥淢ore services needed to attract foreign students.鈥 Vancouver Sun. February 16, 2014.
Epperson, Brent. 鈥淗igher Education for the 21st Century.鈥 Montreal Gazette, January 16, 2014
Epperson, Brent. 鈥淲e need to reframe Alberta鈥檚 post-secondary debate.鈥 Edmonton Journal, December 11, 2013
Armstrong, Laura and Brent Epperson. May 2025. 鈥淎dvancing Conflict Coaching in Ombuds Practice: The EASE Model.鈥 Annual Symposium on Conflict Resolution 鈥 Building Better Workplaces: Toward Comprehensive Conflict Resolution Systems. 性爱学堂. Ottawa, Ontario.
Doran, Chuck and Brent Epperson. May 2025. 鈥淧romoting the Growth of Embedded and Outsourced Ombuds Globally.鈥 Annual Symposium on Conflict Resolution 鈥 Building Better Workplaces: Toward Comprehensive Conflict Resolution Systems. 性爱学堂. Ottawa, Ontario.
Epperson, Brent and Laura Armstrong. April 2025. 鈥淓ffective Coaching in Ombuds Practice: The EASE Model.鈥 International Ombuds Association (IOA) Annual Conference. Miami, Florida.
Epperson, Brent and Laura Armstrong. June 2024. 鈥淩econceptualising Ombuds Practice to Improve Mental Health Through Meaning Mindset Theory (MMT), the Stoic Dichotomy of Control, and the EAR (Empathy, Attention and Respect).鈥 European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE) Annual Conference. Covilh茫, Portugal.
Epperson, Brent and Laura Armstrong. May 2024. 鈥淩econceptualising Ombuds Practice to Improve Mental Health With 鈥淓ASE.鈥 Annual Symposium on Conflict Resolution 鈥 The Ombuds: Foundations, Best Practices, and Development. 性爱学堂. Ottawa, Ontario.
Epperson, Brent and Josef Leidenfrost. June 2023. 鈥淔our Languages, three cities, two ombuds: Insights into how a twin ombuds team is working.鈥 European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE) Annual Conference. Prague, Czech Republic.
Epperson, Brent and Julie Boncompain. November 2022. 鈥淐an we? Should we? How Do We? Engaging in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Work as an Ombuds.鈥 Annual Conference of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (CCCUO). Asilomar, California. Epperson, Brent. October 2022. 鈥淎DR in the Workplace: the Role of the Ombudsman and the Experience of Establishing New Ombuds Offices.鈥 ADR Institute of Canada (ADRIC) National Conference. Ottawa, Ontario.
Epperson, Brent. June 2022. 鈥淓stablishing a New Ombuds Office: Tips from Recent Experiences and an analysis of the historical development of the profession.鈥 Annual Conference of the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE). Athens, Greece.
Epperson, Brent and Daniel Johns. November 2021. 鈥淔rom Student Focus to Systemic Change? Returning to Client-Focused Ombuds Practice.鈥 Annual Conference of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (CCCUO). Asilomar, California.
Epperson, Brent. June 2021. 鈥淗ow to set up an Ombuds office: Lessons from Luxembourg.鈥 European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE). Webinar.
Epperson, Brent. May 2021. 鈥淕ood Online Citizenship: How to Mitigate Conflict in Distance Work.鈥 University of Luxembourg.
Epperson, Brent. November 2019. 鈥淭he Ombudsman in Public Sector Governance: Politics, Partisanship, and Multi-Partiality.鈥 Annual Conference of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (CCCUO). Asilomar, California.
Epperson, Brent. November 2015. 鈥淭he Ombudsman as Fairness Policy Entrepreneur: Advancing Equity in Post-Secondary Contexts.鈥 Annual Conference of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds. Asilomar, California.