Erica Williams, Ph.D.

Biography

Faculty Member Since 2009

Erica L. Williams (she/her/hers) is Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Spelman College. She has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford University, and a B.A. in Anthropology and Africana Studies from New York University. She is the author of Sex Tourism in Bahia: Ambiguous Entanglements (2013), which won the NWSA/University of Illinois First Book Prize. She is co-editor of The Second Generation of African American Pioneers in Anthropology (2018) along with Ira Harrison and Deborah Johnson-Simon, and Speechifying: The Words and Legacy of Johnnetta Betsch Cole, along with Celeste Watkins-Hayes and Johnnetta Betsch Cole (2023). She has published peer-reviewed journal articles in Feminist Anthropology, Transforming Anthropology, Feminist Studies, Gender, Place, and Culture; and several book chapters in edited volumes. She is currently working on two book projects: an ethnography of Black feminist activism in Bahia, Brazil (Fighting for a Good Life) and a creative non-fiction/ memoir (Take Flight: A Memoir of Race, Identity, and Travel.) She is an Associate Editor of Transforming Anthropology, the journal of the Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA). She is a member of the Cite Black Women Collective, and an Advisory Board Member for VidaAfroLatina, an international women’s fund that mobilizes resources and connects them with Afro-descendant women-led organizations in Latin America that address sexual violence.

Book Links:

• University of Illinois Press: Sex Tourism in Bahia
• Interview on Left of Black
• Lecture at Duke
• Speechifying: The Worlds and Legacy of Johnnetta Betsch Cole
• The Second Generation of African American Pioneers in Anthropology

 

Education

• PhD Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University, 2010

• MA Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University, 2005

• BA Anthropology and Africana Studies, New York University, 2002

Courses Taught

• SANT203 Introduction to Anthropology

• SANT305 Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Gender & Sexuality

• SANT316 Feminist Ethnography

• SANT336 Ethnographic Methods

• SANT350 Race and Identity in Latin America

• SAN450 Sexual Economies

• IBQC100 Going Global: From Travelogues to Black Travel Blogs

• IBQC100 Defund the Police: Abolition & Black Feminisms

Research Interests

Race, gender, sexuality, tourism, Brazil, African Diaspora, Afro-Latin America, ethnographic methods, globalization and transnationalism, black feminist anthropology, black feminist activism in Bahia, black Brazilian feminisms.

Select Publications

Books
Cole, Johnnetta Betsch, Celeste Watkins-Hayes, 7 Erica L. Williams, eds. Speechifying: The Worlds and Legacy of Johnnetta Betsch Cole. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2023.

Harrison, Ira, Deborah Johnson-Simon, and Erica L. Williams, eds. The Second Generation of African American Pioneers in Anthropology. Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2018.

Williams, Erica L. Sex Tourism in Bahia: Ambiguous Entanglements. Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2013.



Journal Articles (Selected)
Williams, Erica L. “Centering Black Women: A Black Feminist Critique of Mainstream

Anthropology from the Margins of an HBCU.” Cultural Anthropology. Vol. 37 (No. 3) Colloquy, 2022.

Williams, Erica L. “Black Girl Abroad: An Autoethnography of Travel and The Need to #CiteBlackWomen in Anthropology. Feminist Anthropology. Special Issue: #CiteBlackWomen. Vol. 2, Issue 1, p. 143-154, 2021.

Smith, Christen A., Erica L. Williams, Imani A. Wadud, Whitney N. L. Pirtle, and The Cite Black Women Collective. “Cite Black Women: A Critical Praxis (A Statement). Feminist Anthropology. Special Issue: #CiteBlackWomen. Vol. 2, Issue 1, p. 10-17, 2021.

Williams, Erica L. “The Practical Ethics of Johnnetta Betsch Cole: The Life of a Black Feminist Anthropologist.” Feminist Anthropology. Vol. 1, Issue 1: pp 118-128. May, 2020.

Williams, Erica L. “Geographies of Blackness, Sex Work, and Exclusion in the Tourist Districts of Salvador.”Gender, Place, Culture. Vol. 21(4): 453-470, 2014.

Williams, Erica L. “Women’s Studies and Sexuality Studies at HBCUs: The Audre Lorde Project at Spelman College.” Forum: W/G/S Studies Women’s Studies and Sexuality Studies in Conversation. Feminist Studies Vol. 39, No. 2, 2013.



Book Chapters (Selected)
Williams, Erica L. “A Black Feminist Anthropologist Reflects on her Journeys to Brazil.” In Spelman Going Global: Cross-Cultural Reflections of Students, Faculty, and Staff. Edited by ‘Dimeji Togunde and Krishna Bista. STAR Scholars, 2022.

Williams, Erica L. “No Bodily Rights Worth Protecting: Transnational Circulations of Black Hypersexuality in Brazil.” Black Sexual Economies: Race and Sex in a Culture of Capital. Adrienne Davis and the BSE Collective. University of Illinois Press, 2019.

Williams, Erica L. “Mucamas and Mulatas: Black Brazilian Feminisms, Representations, and Ethnography.” In Transatlantic Feminisms: Women and Gender Studies in Africa and the African Diaspora. Eds. Ampofo et. al. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2015.


Journal Articles
2013 “Geographies of Blackness, Sex Work, and Exclusion in the Tourist Districts of Salvador, Brazil.” Gender, Place, Culture: A Feminist Journal of Geography. May.

2013 “Women’s Studies and Sexuality Studies at HBCUs: The Audre Lordre Project at Spelman College.” Forum: W/G/S Studies Women’s Studies and Sexuality Studies in Conversation. Feminist Studies 39, no. 2. October.


Book Chapters
2015 “Mucamas and Mulatas: Black Brazilian Feminisms, Representations, and Ethnography.” In Transatlantic Feminisms: Women and Gender Studies in Africa and the African Diaspora. Eds. Akosua Ampofo, Cheryl Rodriguez, Dzodzi Tsikata. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

2014 “Feminist Tensions: Race, Sex Work, and Women’s Activism in Bahia.” In Taking Risks: Feminist Stories of Social Justice Research in the Americas. Edited by Julie Shayne. Albany, NY: SUNY Press; Praxis: Theory in Action series.

2011 "Moral Panics and Racialized Sexuality: “Sex Tourism,” “Trafficking” and the Limits of Transnational Mobility in Bahia." In Policing Pleasure: Global Reflections on Sex Work and Public Policy. Edited by Patty Kelly and Susan Dewey. New York: New York University Press.


Entries and Book Reviews
2015 Biographical entries for “Ochy Curiel,” “Dandara dos Palmares,” “Mãe Hilda Jitolu,” and Laudelina Campos Melo.” Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography. Edited by Robert Repino. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Franklin W. Knight, Editors-in-Chief. New York: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.

2014 Review of Transnational Desires: Brazilian Erotic Dancers in New York. Suzana Maia. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2012. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology. Volume 19, Issue no. 2, July.

2012 "Sex Tourism," “Romance Tourism,” and “Prostitution/Sex Work” (3 entries). Encyclopedia of Globalization. Edited by George Ritzer. Wiley-Blackwell. In Print.

2012 Review of Revolutionizing Romance: Interracial Couples in Contemporary Cuba. Nadine Fernandez. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press 2010. Association for Feminist Anthropology online journal, December.

2012 Review of Gendered Citizenship: Transnational Perspectives on Knowledge Production, Political Activism, and Culture. Kia Caldwell, et. al., eds. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Association for Feminist Anthropology journal, Jan.

2011 Review of The Devil Behind the Mirror: Globalization and Politics in the Dominican Republic. By Steven Gregory. Berkeley: UC Press, 2007. Transforming Anthropology. 20 (1) April.

2011 Review of Economies of Desire: Sex and Tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. By Amalia Cabezas. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009. Wagadu: Journal of Transnational Women and Gender Studies. Vol. 9 Spring.


Public Scholarship (Selected)
2014 “The Place of Afro-Brazilian Women in the World Cup.” Co-written with Melissa Creary. Huffington Post. Jun. 17.

2014 “Q&A with Sex Tourism in Bahia author Erica Lorraine Williams." University of Illinois Press website.

2013 “Madiba in Palestine.” Co-written with Robin D.G. Kelley. Counterpunch. Dec. 10.

2013 “Somebody Confiscated my FieldNotes: Reflections on Occupied Palestine.” The Feminist Wire. Jun. 24.

2012 “A Black Woman’s Self-Care Manifesto.” Part of the Black Academic Women’s Health series. The Feminist Wire. Nov. 5.

2010 “Blonde Beauties and Black Booties: Persisting Racial Hierarchies in Brazil.” Jun. 11.