Julie Rak

Julie Rak is the HM Tory Chair and Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. She holds a BA and PhD from McMaster University and an MA from Carleton University. Her research focuses on auto/biography, life writing, and nonfiction in North America, with specialties in gender, Canadian literature, and publishing studies. She has authored or co-edited numerous books, including False Summit: Gender in Mountaineering Nonfiction (2021) and The Routledge Introduction to Auto/biography in Canada (2023).

Rak’s academic roles include interim Chair of the EFS Department (2023–2024) and leadership in the Stories of Change research group. She has received prestigious awards such as the J. Gordin Kaplan Award (2023) and the Killam Annual Professorship (2017–2018). Her research explores marginalized narratives, including Inuit literature and digital life writing, with a commitment to inclusivity and community engagement.

Her teaching spans undergraduate and graduate courses on autobiography, gender theory, and Canadian literature. She actively supervises research projects and supports student initiatives like the Roger Smith Undergraduate Research Award. Rak’s work bridges academic rigor with public scholarship, with over 90 media engagements.

• Education:
  • PhD in English, McMaster University
  • MA in Canadian Studies, Carleton University
  • BA in English, McMaster University
• Grants & Projects:
  • SSHRC Insight Grant for Government Agents, Literary Agents: Inuit Books and Government Intervention, 1968–1985
  • Leadership in the Stories of Change initiative
• Awards & Honors:
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2022)
  • Henry Marshall Tory Chair (2019–2025)
  • 2024 Visiting Professor at Merton College, Oxford