When Williams and her brood first arrived in Niger in 1988, it looked as though that might happen. "When we arrived in the country, television was only on three days a week, only in the evenings and only in French or Hausa, one of the major local languages," said Williams, who served as Area Peace Corps Medical Officer in Niamey, Niger, for two years. "At the time, I thought, `Good. If they're going to watch television, they'll have to learn another language.' By the time we left, television was on every evening from 6 to 11."
What really got Williams' goat, however, was the fact that the super glitzy 1980s night-time soap opera Dynasty was being dubbed into French and broadcast television in Niger toward the end of the family's stay. "I really wondered what kind of impression this was making on people," she said. "Sometimes, you would find someone in a village rich enough to have a television set that ran on a solar battery. One evening a week, the villagers might get together and look at this television, and here they are showing Dynasty to this country that's living in huts and using well water, if they're lucky."
Her experience in Niger influenced Williams' selection of a thesis topic while pursuing her Master of Public Health degree at Emory, which she completed last May. Her topic was "A Literature Review Studying the Effects of Television and the Mass Media on Developing Countries."
"Because of her extensive international experience, Joanne is particularly attuned to both the physical problems and emotional needs of Emory's international students," said Emory AIDS Training Network Director Ira K. Schwartz, a pediatrician who practiced with Williams for three years in the Grady Neighborhood Health Service. "She truly has seen the world and has a great understanding of cultural diversity. She is non-judgmental and is very accepting of who people are and where they're coming from. Joanne is exceptionally kind and compassionate, but she is also very tough."
Although Williams sees a great deal of potential for programming between the health service and International Student Affairs office in Campus Life, she is "still trying to figure out exactly what's going on. I've bounced around a lot of ideas, but right now they're still just ideas. I would certainly want the students and faculty in all the departments to let us know how we might be able to help them."
Currently, Williams is working in the University Health Service two days a week while she transitions out of her full-time role at Grady Hospital as a faculty member in the School of Medicine's Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. She expects to be working full-time in the health service by May.
After attending Smith College and the University of Massachusetts, Williams completed an undergraduate degree in economics at Morgan State University in her native Baltimore. "In my fourth year of undergraduate school, I decided that I was going to go ahead and pursue the medical degree," Williams said. "So at about six months pregnant, I fulfilled the requirements I had for pre-med courses, graduated in June, had the baby in August, sort of stayed out for the next year, and took the rest of the [pre-med] requirements."
Williams went on to earn her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University before becoming medical director and physician at the Athens (Ga.) Neighborhood Health Center and later staff physician at the University of Georgia Health Service.
The positive experience Williams had during her five years at the University of Georgia Health Service played heavily into her decision to accept the job at Emory. "Since being at Emory as a faculty member and as a student," Williams said, "I think there is something that I could bring to the campus, if nothing else but the health education aspect, which was the minor in my public health degree."
She also is glad that at least 50 percent of her time in the University Health Service will be spent seeing patients.
Outside of Emory, Williams spends what time she can sewing, playing piano and making gourmet vegetarian dishes. But young people are always at the center of her activity. In addition to spending as much time as possible with their four children, ages 7, 10, 16 and 23, Williams and her husband, Rev. Jeffery B. Cooper, spend much of their time on programs that benefit young people. Williams has statewide responsibility as director of the Young People's Division of her church's Missionary Department.
--Dan Treadaway