Social critic Williams to speak Oct. 16

Prominent social critic and Columbia University law professor Patricia Williams will discuss racial profiling in the kick-off lecture of the Center for the Humanities “Humanities Without Boundaries” Distinguished Lecture Series.

Her free public talk, “Obstacle Illusions: Profiling and the Politics of Racial Identity,” is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, in Great Hall, Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St. For information, call (608) 263-3409.

A former faculty member of the UW–Madison Law School and winner this year of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, Williams is noted for her work and commentary on social justice issues.

She write the “Diary of a Mad Law Professor” column for The Nation and has written numerous articles for scholarly journals and popular magazines and newspapers such as the New York Times, USA Today, Ms., New Yorker and the Village Voice.

Her book, “The Alchemy of Race and Rights,” has been hailed as a feminist classics and has been chosen as one of the 10 best non-fiction books of the decade by Amazon.com. Her other books include “The Rooster’s Egg” and “Seeing a Color-Blind Future: The Paradox of Race.”

Before entering academia, she practiced law as a consumer advocate and deputy city attorney for the city of Los Angeles, and as a staff attorney for the Western Center on Law and Poverty.

The UW–Madison Center for the Humanities coordinates and sponsors interdisc