R. John Williams

Associate Professor, English, Film and Media, at Yale University

R. John Williams, PhD, is Professor of English, and Film and Media Studies at Yale University. He is the author of The Buddha in the Machine: Art, Technology, and the Meeting of East and West, and has published as well on a number of topics including religion, futurology, systems theory, psychoanalysis, and film and television. His forthcoming manuscript, Out of Mind: Media, Meditation, and the Problem of the Inner Self (University of Chicago Press) examines the role of communication technologies in the evolution of contemplative practices during the twentieth century. 

Participant In These Roundtable Discussions

Sat
Nov 19th
2022
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Living in Difficult Times

Daily headlines have been startling and scary: “U.S. Life Expectancy Plunged in 2020, Especially for Black and Hispanic Americans,” reported The New York Times.  “The Pandemic has Made Homelessness More Visible in Many American Cities,” noted The Economist, while The Guardian  announced “The Latest UN Report is Clear: Climate Change is Here, It’s a Crisis, and It’s Caused by... read more! »
Sat
Oct 4th
2025
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See Memory

An Afternoon of Art, Neuroscience & Storytelling Join us for the New York premiere of the newly expanded 2025 edition of See Memory—the Bronze Telly Award–winning, hand-painted short documentary that premiered on PBS this spring. Created by filmmaker and visual artist Viviane Silvera, See Memory brings the invisible workings of memory, trauma, and healing to life through over 40,000 individually painted... read more! »