Professor Kimberly Williams Brown

Anyone who despairs of ever seeing an America that can overcome its crippling polarization, political and otherwise, should spend some time with Kimberly Williams Brown.

Williams Brown, an Associate Professor of Education and the College’s new Director of Engaged Pluralism (EP), believes it is indeed possible to create a community where people are not so divided that they cease to see, hear, and listen to each other. In fact, says Williams Brown, a liberal arts campus like Vassar is the ideal place in which to develop the skills to do exactly that.

“Engaged Pluralism is the way that people who have multiple perspectives, viewpoints, ways of seeing the world come to exist together in a place—and beyond just merely existing, begin to figure out how we live together,” said Williams Brown, who was appointed to a three-year term as EP Director by President Elizabeth Bradley in June.

“This is a truly critical moment for this important role, and we are so fortunate to have Professor Williams Brown to direct Engaged Pluralism,” Bradley said. “She has a clear vision and deep expertise. I look forward to supporting, collaborating, and learning from Professor Williams Brown and the Engaged Pluralism efforts.”

Williams Brown succeeds Professor of Religion Jonathon Kahn, whose term recently ended. EP began as a five-year, grant-funded College initiative in 2017; Bradley made it a permanent part of the College last year with a dedicated staff.

“I think EP is necessary for Vassar because, as a liberal arts institution, we welcome a diversity of thought, a diversity of people,” said Williams Brown, “and if we welcome them, then we have to have systems and processes in place to make sure that we’re actually doing what we say we’re doing. Engaged Pluralism begins to address the intentional coming together of folks across their difference to create spaces where everybody can feel like, ‘I belong here. I can be here. What I think matters.’”

This is not something that just happens automatically, explained Williams Brown, given the power dynamics inherent in any interaction as well as the various forms of inequity that are baked into our society. It takes time, trust, and processes to make it happen. “You have to be very intentional about it,” she said. But when people feel comfortable sharing their perspectives and experiences, said Williams Brown, problem-solving on any number of issues can take on a whole new dimension: “Those differences actually help you get to the core of the issue in a different way than you might by thinking about it with like-minded people.”

The new EP Director’s faith in the ability for people who have even wildly different points of view to work together for the common good is not simple idealism but rather reflects her deep experience in effecting this type of interaction. Williams Brown, who earned a PhD in cultural foundations of education from Syracuse University, has co-authored two books and several articles about a methodological approach to thinking about difference called Intergroup Dialogue that was developed in the late 1980s and early ’90s. “We can become so insular in our own thinking and in our own way of seeing the world,” said Williams Brown. “A part of the communication strategy that is embedded in the Intergroup Dialogue model is that you really listen to people, you really pay attention to what it is that they’re saying.”

Williams Brown plans to find ways of integrating this methodology and other techniques into the EP Program, which she believes has already had a positive impact through its Working Groups and Igniter Pitches. “My vision for EP,” she elaborated, “is to socialize the tools of restorative practices, Intergroup Dialogue, conflict mediation, inclusive pedagogies, and storytelling to realize the goal of a campus that feels and looks inclusive to students, staff, administrators, and faculty.”

She acknowledges that a redoubled effort on the EP front comes not a moment too soon, as the new academic year will open in the midst of a highly divisive election season with the war in Gaza yet to be resolved. But Williams Brown believes she is the right person for this complex job. “It feels serendipitous that I was asked at this very moment when I think folks need direction, they need new tools, they need new ways of engaging with each other,” she said.