Americanist Dinner Forum: Stephanie Li Discusses Her Current Manuscript "Ugly White People"

Professor Stephanie Li will discuss her current manuscript, "Ugly White People" which examines depictions of white Americans by 21st century white authors. Her conversation with Professor Jeffrey McCune will consider how whiteness signifies in contemporary culture. In the next few decades, whites will constitute less than half of the population, a demographic shift that has already caused profound transformations and stoked national anxieties. Li's project aims to explore manifestations of what she terms "ugly whiteness," entitled behavior that demonstrates how, as James Baldwin explains, white Americans remain "trapped in a history they do not understand."