Essayist and world traveler Allison Williams will deliver a lecture titled “The Back of the Bus: Race, Comedy and Whiteness as Other,” on Monday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m., in the Red Pit, KJ. The event is free, open to the public and co-sponsored by the Diversity and Social Justice Project and the Dean of Faculty’s office.
Williams is a memoirist and travel journalist. She has written about race and culture for The New York Times and the Traveler’s Tales anthology series, and been featured on National Public Radio. She recently spoke on “Intersections,” CBC Canada’s program on race and culture, about performing racially-charged comedy.
As a story-teller, Williams has appeared onstage at Rich Mix, London’s premier venue for cultural interchange, and is a two-time winner of The Moth Story SLAM. Williams is based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but spends 280 days a year on the road in North America, Dubai, India and South Africa. At Hamilton, Williams will speak about curiosity, representation and walking the tightrope between comedy and offense.