Grace Heneks
  • Lecturer

Biography

Grace Heneks received her PhD in American literature from Texas A&M University in 2021. She specializes in contemporary African American literature with an emphasis in critical race studies and humor. Her work has been published in The Comparatist, MELUS, The Journal of Popular Culture, and Studies in American Humor. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of English at Texas A&M University. In addition to her scholarship, Grace enjoys running, playing with her dogs, and baking fancy French pastries.

Research Interests

  • 20th and 21st Century Studies
  • African American and African Diaspora Literature
  • American Literature and Culture

 

Research Areas

  • Critical Race Studies
  • African American Literature
  • Multiethnic American Literature
  • Humor
  • 20th-21st Century Literature

Educational Background

  • PhD: 2021, Texas A&M University
  • MA: 2014, University of Colorado at Denver
  • BA: 2010, University of Colorado at Denver

Awards & Honors

  • Texas A&M University Dissertation Fellowship, 2020-2021
  • Judith Yaross Lee Publication Grant in American Humor Studies, American Humor Studies Association, 2020.
  • Murray and Celeste Fasken Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University, 2020.
  • Constance Rourke Prize, American Humor Studies Association, 2020.
  • Staley Creswell Teaching Award, English Department, Texas A&M University, 2018.

Selected Publications

    • “Ocular Rebellion: The Satirical Gaze of White Fright in Jordan Peele’s Get Out” (accepted in The Journal of Popular Culture; forthcoming)
    • “‘What Race Problem?’: The Satirical Gaze of (White) History in The Underground Railroad.” MELUS, vol. 45, no. 4, 2020, pp. 133-154.
    • “The American Subplot: Colson Whitehead’s Post-Racial Allegory in Zone One.” The Comparatist, vol. 42, no. 1, 2018, pp. 60-79.
    • “‘We Cool?’: Satirizing Whiteness in Obama-Era Black Satire.” Studies in American Humor, vol. 8, no. 2, 2022, pp. 275-296.