Spring 2021

“This is nowhere near the whole story.”

I was reminded of that fact in late March, during a virtual conference hosted by Boston University, where historian and writer Jelani Cobb was discussing what he called the “particular power” of narrative.

“We make sense of the world through narrative,” Cobb said. “We create a beginning, middle and end of a set of events and, through that beginning, middle and end, [we] convey values, ideas, perspectives about the world we’re inhabiting.”

At the time, we were deep in the process of developing this issue of Williams Magazine. Building on the success of the fall magazine, we cast a wide net to students, faculty, staff and alumni—never expecting that, once again, so many would graciously answer our call to share their scholarship and their ideas, their struggles and their experiences, to help us make sense of the times.

As we did in the fall, we offered writers the emotional and intellectual space to share what was in their hearts and minds. And yet the magazine you now hold in your hands is nowhere near the whole story. Nor is it an unvarnished story. From our selection of writers to their choice of topic and words, from the order in which stories appear to how illustrators and photographers bring them to life, narrative storytelling involves decisions that manifest the conscious and unconscious biases of all the people involved at every step of the process.

In his address, Cobb spoke of another complication of narrative storytelling: “Even in our best strivings, there are questions we don’t ask, and it’s in the unasked questions that we wind up creating a perspective by omission, even if we don’t want to create one by commission.”

While we can never eliminate any of these imperfections, acknowledging them helps blunt their power to exclude. So, too, does expanding the kinds of stories we tell and who tells them. As we embrace the diversity of thought and experience of Williams’ many communities, let us always strive to ask as many questions as we can—and appreciate the answers we receive.

By Amy T. Lovett, Editor-in-Chief

Photo of a woman getting a shot

Strength and Resilience

The pandemic clarifies a pediatrician’s place among the Navajo.

Read More...
Photo showing how some teachers met with students outdoors, masked and distanced

Campus News

Williams’ fall 2021 opening, new science facilities and more.

Read More...
Photo of vintage poster showing fear of Chinese

The Myth of the Model Minority

Situating anti-Asian racism within larger histories.

Read More...
Photo showing students involved in an art project

Together at Williams

Highlights from a year unlike any other: a photo essay.
Photographs by Bradley Wakoff

Read More...
Photo of Asian women at a protest

An American Tragedy

The double bind of being an Asian woman.

Read More...
Old photo of Doris Jones en pointe

Mapping Ballet’s “Dark Stars”

Students recover the stories of Black artists, schools and influences.

Read More...
Illustration of Michelle Alexander

Claiming Williams: In Conversation

Michelle Alexander discusses community, fierce love and the messy path to justice.

Read More...
Portrait of Laura Wang

More than Medicine

How future physicians benefit from liberal arts learning.

Read More...
Illustration showing Black and white people on the same playing card

Familiar Trouble

Are we witnessing the death throes of white supremacy in America?

Read More...
Photo of brown leather fringed leg stockings

Critical Partnerships

An alumni-funded internship fuels a student’s interest in heritage and art repatriation.

Read More...
Illustration of Black hands breaking out of police tape

What Will Liberate Us

Modern policing is broken.

Read More...
Portrait of Mohammed Memfis

From Activism to Action

The new generation of environmental justice warriors.

Read More...
Illustration showing wealth disparity in the pandemic

Where Economics Failed Us

Rethinking assumptions during a pandemic.

Read More...
Photo of Bertie Miller climbing an ice crevasse

Research, Untethered

Gender dynamics on Juneau’s Icefield.

Read More...
Old photo of a Black nurse and doctor taking an x-ray of a baby with a huge old machine

Doctoring Freedom

Exploring medical practice and black health in 19th century America.

Read More...
Portrait of John Hubbell

An Undaunted Spirit

Cancer in the time of Covid-19.

Read More...
Illustration depicting the state of Georgia being painted blue

A More Peculiar Kinship

How violence, activism and an enduring freedom struggle led to a historic U.S. Senate election in Georgia.

Read More...
Illustration depicting reading about disasters

A Matrix of Catastrophe

Publishing a fictional account of a pandemic during a real one.

Read More...
Photo showing Trump supporters at the insurrection

The Root of Political Violence

Making sense of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Read More...
Illustration of a flying eagle. Illustration by Nicolás Ortega.

The Power of Narrative

Answering unasked questions.

Read More...
Old photo showing how women worked as decoders

Breaking the Code

Alumnae surface the little-known stories of female codebreakers in World War II.

Read More...
Illustration showing how people are baited by racial politics

Racial Politics in the Post-Trump Era

Will provocation remain in vogue?

Read More...
Illustration of a drooping daisy. Illustration by Nicolás Ortega.

Planned Evolution

Remaining true to our values.
Letter from President Maud S. Mandel

Read More...