Rate My Professor Johnny Eric Williams

Johnny Eric Williams serves as Professor of Sociology at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he has been a faculty member since 1996. His research interests include religion, culture, social movements, sociology of science, and sociology. Williams' scholarship addresses the intersections of race, racism, ideology, and activism, particularly how cultural elements mobilize social change and sustain power structures. He examines topics such as racial ideology in genomics, the role of religion in civil rights movements, African-American women's activism, reality TV discourse, and contemporary issues like racial capitalism and microaggressions.

Key publications by Williams include the book African American Religion and the Civil Rights Movement in Arkansas (University Press of Mississippi, 2003), which analyzes the influence of politicized religious beliefs on collective action during the civil rights era, and The Civility-Incivility Paradox (Routledge, 2021). His peer-reviewed articles feature "Alienation, Racial Capitalism, and the Racialization of Palestinians" (Critical Sociology, 2023), "Moving Beyond Obfuscating Racial Microaggression Discourse" (Social Inclusion, 2023), "Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed Book Appreciation" (Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 2019), "'Change you can Believe in,' you Better not Believe it" (Critical Sociology, 2011), "They Say It's in the Genes: Decoding Racial Ideology in Genomics" (Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 2011), "Sustaining Power Through Reality TV Discourse" (Critical Sociology, 2006), "Vanguards of Hope: The Role of Culture in Mobilizing African-American Women's Social Activism in Arkansas" (Sociological Spectrum, 2004), and "Linking Beliefs to Collective Action: Politicized Religious Beliefs and the Civil Rights Movement" (Sociological Forum, 2002). Williams participates in professional service, such as presenting awards at Trinity College Honors Day and candidacy for leadership in the American Sociological Association.