Judith Williams

Judith Williams

Assistant Professor, Anthropology

Curriculum Vitae Website
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Dr. Judith Williams, assistant professor in anthropology, is a cultural anthropologist whose scholarship explores structural inequalities within U.S. food culture. Her Ph.D. in Global & Sociocultural Studies from Florida International University followed a career as a chef and in hospitality management. Her research uses an intersectional lens to critically explore the complexities of racial hierarchies entrenched in restaurant and foodservice labor. Her work takes a specific focus on the role of whiteness in perpetuating anti-Black discrimination. Her forthcoming book, Maitre Divas and Misogynoir: The Lived Experiences of Black Female Restaurant Workers is about the experiences of Black women who work in the Front of the House of Restaurants in Miami and New Orleans. Her work stands as a catalyst for change in reshaping the landscape of equity within the food industry. At Furman, she teaches courses on Black Foodways and the Anthropology of Race and Ethnicity. Dr. Williams recently took students on a MayX study away program “Food & Culture Expedition: Charleston & Belize” where students explored the fascinating world of Gullah and Garifuna culture in Charleston and Belize. When she's not working, you can find her hanging out in West Greenville with her dog, Oliver.

Honors & Awards

  • American Anthropological Association (AAA), The OpEd Project, 2020
  • McKnight Doctoral Fellowship, Florida International University, 2015-2021
  • American Ethnological Society, Diversity Travel Grant, 2019
  • McKnight Doctoral Field Work Grant, 2019
  • McKnight Doctoral Travel Grant, 2019 & 2018
  • Florida International University (FIU), School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA)
  • Graduate Travel Grant, 2017 & 2018
  • FIU, Global & Sociocultural Studies Travel Grant, 2017 & 2018

Education

  • Ph.D., Global and Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University
  • M.A., Global and Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University
  • M.S. Hospitality Management, Florida International University

Research Interests

  • Critical Black Foodways
  • Anthropology of Food and Labor
  • Whiteness
  • Intersectionality
  • Black Feminism
  • African Diasporic Communities from the Caribbean and Latin America.

Publications

  • Williams, J. (2022). “Cooking up Hope: Minoritized White Women and their “hope” for Racial Equality”. Journal for the Anthropology of North America, 25:2, December 8, 2022.
  • Williams, J. (2022). Review of Caribeños at the Table: How Migration, Health, and Race Intersect in New York City by Melissa Fuster. North American Council on Latin America (NACLA), May 6, 2022
  • Williams, J. (2020). “The Mango Gang and New World Cuisine: White power, privilege and race in the commodification of Latin-American and Afro-Caribbean foods”. In H. Garth & A. Reese (Eds.), Black food matters: Centering Black ways of knowing in the wake of food justice. University of Minnesota Press.
  • Williams, J. & Kolb, K. (November 10, 2021) Why City's West Greenville Plan Must Address the Area's Racial Inequities. Greenville News
  • Williams, J. (June 4, 2019). Following the Proud Boys incident, Miami’s restaurant industry needs to address racism. Miami Herald.

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