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   Recognizing others
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          Thinking Critically

Biography

Born in the Land of Oz, Dr. King resided in Alaska and Portland, before settling in Kansas City for his wonder years. Attending the University of Kansas, he earned a BA and a MA in cultural anthropology, but more importantly drank schnapps with Fishbone, celebrated a national championship in basketball, became obsessed with the writings of Foucault, flirted with undertaking fieldwork in Polynesia, and fell in love with a rare jewel, who continues to dazzle him with her wit and beauty. In 1992, he stepped off the yellow brick road, venturing to the University of Illinois. There, confronted with Chief Illiniwek and cultural studies, he became a bad anthropologist. He came to WSU after teaching at Drake University in Des Moines for six years. His two daughters alternately delight, challenge, entertain, and inspire him. He especially enjoys rediscovering the world by their sides as they build sand castles, walk in the woods, or bake cookies.

Publications

Dr. King has written extensively on the changing position of Native Americans in post-Civil Rights America, the colonial legacies and postcolonial predicaments of American culture, and struggles over Indianness in public culture. His work has appeared a variety of journals, such as American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Public Historian, and Qualitative Inquiry. He is also the author/editor of four books, including Team Spirits: The Native American Mascot Controversy (a CHOICE 2001 Outstanding Academic Title) and Postcolonial America. He is presently completing work on Telling Achievements: Native American Athletes in Modern Sport and The Encyclopedia of Native Americans and Sport.

Research Interests

Dr. King's research concentrates on the racial politics of culture. He is particularly interested in the forms of memory, representation, identity, and sovereignty animating Native American-EuroAmerican relations. He has explored these themes in the context of expressive culture (museums, tourism, and sports) and political struggles (indigenous activism concerned with representation, naming, and history). More recently, while continuing to think about mascots, Dr. King has turned to the rich heritage and lasting significance of athleticism in Native America to offer more nuanced interpretations of cultural change, social struggles, and signifying practices in indigenous communities. Presently, while completing an introductory comparative ethnic studies textbook with Dr. Leonard, he is examining the use of racial metaphors, racism in popular culture, and white supremacist ideologies.

Teaching Interests

The intersections of race, culture, and power center the classes taught by Dr. King. He teaches many of the core courses in the Department of Comparative Comparative Ethnic Studies, including research methods and social justice. He also regularly offers courses in the area of Native American Studies and Cultural Studies. He looks forward to developing a number of new courses on race, gender and sports, indigenous activism, and race and representation.

Links

Richard King's C.V.

Spring 2004 Syllabi

CES 198

American Studies 503

Past Syllabi

CES 101

CES 280

CES 303

CES 379

CES 491

CES 494

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