Eric Williams
Eric Williams is currently a first-year graduate student in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University – Bloomington. Originally from Chicago, he eagerly escaped the cold “windy city” winters to pursue an undergraduate degree down south. In 2008, Eric graduated cum laude from Grambling State University – an HBCU (Historically Black College & University) in Grambling, Louisiana, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.
Some of Eric’s research and teaching interests have been shaped by research programs he completed at The Ohio State University – Department of Sociology (2007) and The University of Texas at Austin – Population Research Center (2008). There, his research focused on academic exceptionalism among working and lower class African American males, as well as race & gender differences in adolescent body image and the mental health implications associated with varying degrees of self-rated body image.
Substantive areas of interest include: Sexuality, Gender, Education, Race & Ethnicity, and Demography. Eric is generally interested in the mechanisms by which various forms of social inequality are exerted upon and perpetuated in minority group populations. Specifically, race, class, and gender based disparities in education, morbidity, and mortality. He is also interested in the convergence of race, sexuality, and social psychology, particularly, how LGBT persons negotiate intersecting identities, as well as the sexualization of the black-white color line.
Eric enjoys cooking, movies, social outings with family & friends, and feverishly following national politics.
