Grace King

Professional Bio

My research is inspired by and accountable to the lands that have raised me, specifically Mount Desert Island, Maine and the island of Newfoundland in eastern Canada. These lands belong to the Wabanaki and to the Beothuk and Mi'kmaq, respectively.

Working within the loose parameters of the long nineteenth century on Turtle Island (North America), my research explores histories of information and science in literatures of various oceanic, islanded, and archipelagic forms. I am particularly interested in how these literary histories and forms intersect with—and often support—the emergence of both American and Canadian settler-colonialisms.

In my work as a Research Assistant to the PSU Special Collections Library in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, I am producing a digital edition of a manuscript kept by a member of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition. I am conducting a review of the description of northwest coastal Indigenous artifacts which were donated with the diary, in order to improve their cataloguing according to ongoing discussions around anti-colonial and anti-racist metadata protocols.

As an instructor in the English and Comparative Literature departments, I strive to create an accessible learning environment that encourages individual discovery according to student interests. If you are taking or thinking of taking a course with me and have questions about how the course might suit your goals or needs, please feel free to reach out to me by email.