Psyche Williams-Forson

Psyche Williams-Forson is an American scholar and writer from Virginia. She is currently the associate professor and chair of American Studies at the University of Maryland.

Education Williams-Forson, who is African-American, holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland (completed in 2002), which are also the fields and institutions related to her Master's work in (1994). Additionally, she completed a certificate in Women's Studies (1994). In 1997, she received her bachelor's degree in English and African-American Studies.

Career and research She primarily focuses on 19th and 20th century U.S. History - specifically social and cultural history dealing with race, gender, material culture, and food.

Currently, Williams-Forson is working on several projects: food shaming and policing, economic availability of rural Virginian black women, African American class through interiors. The Food and Society Video Project recorded an interview of Williams-Forson's presentation at Institute of Advanced Study Interdisciplinary Symposium (2001) on "How We Talk About Feeding the World." In 2004, MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry interviewed her on the interdisciplinary nature of food history - "History of Food, Race, and Identity in America."

Awards and fellowships Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Diversity Fellowship The Huffington Post, "What's Really in that take out box?" Written by Psyche Williams-Forson Food, Fatness, and Fitness Critical Perspectives: "Black Lives Matter, Even in Food Justice." Written by Psyche Williams-Forson