Grace Bernadette McGowan
Grace McGowan is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Colby College. She received her PhD from Boston University in the American Studies Program. She was born and grew up in Derry, Ireland as part of a generation bridging the tail end of The Troubles and beginning of the Peace Process. She attended the University of Oxford from 2013-2017 to study English Language and Literature. During her time as an undergraduate she suffered an ischemic stroke in 2015 resulting in pausing her studies for a year to recover. After completing her undergraduate degree she pursued a PhD to continue her research interests in Black Classicism and American beauty myths.
Grace is a proud first-gen and low-income scholar. She works closely with the Newbury Center for First-Generation Students at Boston University to illuminate the challenges encountered by first-gen, international, and low-income students. Her Instagram, @phdoingmydamnbest, aims to demystify academia and help other scholars navigate the space of the academy. Her digital outreach and scholarly community-building also includes founding Ampersand: An American Studies Journal which operates out of her home program at Boston University. She is committed to mentoring and supporting younger scholars in the academy.
To learn more, email gmcgowan@colby.edu or click the button below. Invitations for guest lectures and wider collaborations are welcome.
Education
Boston University, Boston — PhD in American & New England Studies
Sept 2018 - Summer 2024
Dissertation Project: “Venus Worked in Bronze”: African-American Women Writers and the Classical Tradition, advised by Prof. Anita Patterson and Prof. Joe Rezek
Research Interests: African-American Literature, African-American History, Caribbean Studies, Black Classicism, 20th century American Literature.
Boston University, Boston — Master of Arts in American & New England Studies
Awarded May 2021.
Major Paper: “This Fault’ring Music Dies Upon My Tongue”: Phillis Wheatley’s Classicism.
University of Oxford, Oxford — BA English Language and Literature
Awarded June 2017.
Dissertation: “I Know I Can’t Change the Future but I Can Change the Past”: Toni Morrison, Robin Coste Lewis, and the Classical Tradition.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed:
“I Know I Can’t Change the Future but I Can Change the Past”; Toni Morrison, Robin Coste Lewis, and the Classical Tradition. Contemporary Women's Writing, OUP, Volume 13, Issue 3, November 2019, Pages 339–356, https://doi.org/10.1093/cww/vpaa001.
A Duet With History, Lizzo ft. James Madison’s Flute: Remixing and Reimagining American History. Nursing Clio. March 2023. https://nursingclio.org/2023/03/29/a-duet-with-history-lizzo-and-james-madisons-crystal-flute/
Open Access:
“Ovid Rewritten: Objectification, Fragmentation, and Transformation in the Writing of Toni Morrison and Robin Coste Lewis.” Stanford Arcade Colloquium: New Directions in Thing Theory in Literary Studies. March, 2022.
“The Fate of Medusa: Black Women Artists and Rethinking Medusa”. Ampersand: An American Studies Journal. Vol. 2. Boston University. February, 2022. https://sites.bu.edu/ampersandjournal/2022/02/02/grace-mcgowan/
“In ‘Rumors’, Lizzo And Cardi B Pull From the Ancient Greeks Putting A New Twist On An Old Tradition.” The Conversation. Reprinted in The Boston Sunday Globe. August, 2021. https://theconversation.com/in-rumors-lizzo-and-cardi-b-pull-from-the-ancient-greeks-putting-a-new-twist-on-an-old-tradition-166318
Awards & Fellowships
2023:
Women's Council New England Women's College Award.
Graduate Student Organization Travel Award. Boston University.
David Hall Memorial Prize. Boston University.
2022:
Helen G. Allen Humanities Award. Boston University Center for the Humanities. Spring 2022.
Angela J. and James J. Rallis Memorial Award. Boston University Center for the Humanities. Spring 2022.
American & New England Studies Travel Award. Spring 2022.
2021:
Graduate Student Organization Travel Award. Boston University. Summer 2021.
New England American Studies Association: Mary Kelley Prize, Honorable Mention for “This Fault’ring Music Dies Upon My Tongue: Phillis Wheatley’s Classicism”. Summer 2021.
Boston University William V Shannon Memorial Fellowship. Summer 2021.
Conferences
2023:
“‘Her Whole Life Depended On Whether Or Not Those Aluminum Teeth Would Meet’: The Fitting Room in Toni Morrison’s Novels.” Historical Places and Place in Toni Morrison’s Fiction. Toni Morrison Society. American Literature Association, Boston. May 2023.
“African-American Women Writers and Classical Beauty Myths.” Liberating Spatiality and Temporality Aesthetics Panel. GCWS Graduate Student Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. March 2023.
“‘Age of Phillis’: Revisiting Classical Transformations of Phillis Wheatley Peters in the 21st Century.” American Afterlives I: Transformations and Remediations. Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture. Virtual, February 2023.
2022:
“The Black Venus: Josephine Baker and Twentieth Century Cosmetics”. I’m Your Venus: The Reception of Antiquity in Modern Cosmetic Advertising and Marketing. University of Glasgow and University of Cardiff. Scheduled, September 2022.
“Teaching Phillis Wheatley Peters”. Underrepresented Voices of the American Revolution. Teacher Workshop. Massachusetts Historical Society. July 2022.
“Venus Worked in Bronze: Pauline Hopkins’s Black Venus and Classical Beauty.” New England American Studies Association, Berkshire. June 2022.
“‘Venus Worked in Bronze’: Beauty Myths in African-American Women’s Writing.” Inspired by and Invigorating Myth and Literature: Contemporary Literature and the Classics. Northeast Modern Language Association. March 2022.
2021:
“Copper Venuses and Midnight Galateas: Classical Sculpture in Black Women’s Writing”. Sculpture & Literature, New Voices Conference. UK Association for Art History. October 2021.
“(Re)Birth of Venus: African-American Women and Classical Aesthetics”. Appetites and Aesthetics Panel. American Literature Association, New Orleans, September 2021. (canceled due to Hurricane Ida).
“Seated at a Table, Facing Left, Writing With a Quill’; the Legacies of Toni Morrison’s Classicism”. Legacies of Toni Morrison Panel. American Literature Association, Boston. July 2021. (Rescheduled from 2020)
“This Fault’ring Music Dies Upon My Tongue; Phillis Wheatley and American Identity.” New England American Studies Association, Boston. June 2021.