Psyche Williams-Forson
Professor & Chairperson, Department of American Studies, University of Maryland
As a scholar of African American life and culture, Dr. Williams-Forson is an often sought-after speaker who discusses everything from African American foodways to the importance of food in workplaces and the meanings of Juneteenth beyond food. She coined the phrase “Black Women, Food, and Power” and has spoken extensively on topics such as food and literature; food and sustainability; race, food, and design thinking; eating and workplace cultures; as well as the ways that Black people’s race and gender have been continuously misrepresented in visual and textual media. Williams-Forson also has written extensively about African American history and life in reviews, articles, and magazines.
She frequently keynotes and speaks at universities, colleges, communities, corporations, and museums throughout the United States and abroad. Dr. Williams-Forson has also curated two exhibits –Fire and Freedom (for the National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine) – and Still Cookin by the Fireside: African-Americans in Food Service, an online exhibition, that examined African-American history from the colonial era to the present.
