“Do you have a moment to talk about the election?”

The Center for Social Justice and the Civic Engagement Rope Team hosted Dr. Ngonidzashe Munemo, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Hamilton College, for A Conversation on Inclusive Dialogue on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Dr. Munemo discussed his campus-wide experiment with institution-wide collaboration on Inclusive Conversations regarding the election. We invite you to watch the insightful video on fostering inclusive conversations in a unique campus setting. Learn practical strategies to create welcoming spaces, engage in meaningful dialogue, and support diverse perspectives on campus.

Dr. Munemo’s research found that simply asking “do you have a moment to talk about the election?” was enough to initiate meaningful conversations among students, faculty, and administrative staff. Watch as Dr. Munemo responds to President Schejbal’s insightful question on how to navigate these conversations of democracy without having people in a common place about what equality means and why it is important. In discussing democracy, how can we reach a fundamental agreement that we are all equal, especially in a world filled with so many differences?

Ngonidzashe (Ngoni) Munemo is Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Faculty, and Professor of Government at Hamilton College. As chief academic officer of the College, Ngoni is charged with supporting faculty scholarship and development, promoting excellent teaching in the classroom, enhancing curricular innovation, incorporating diversity and inclusion across academic domains, supporting the academic success of students, and fostering Hamilton’s intellectual community. He also oversees all of Hamilton’s academic support services, ALEX, Athletics, the Registrar, and the Wellin Museum. In addition, Ngoni chairs the Academic Council and is a member of the Committee on Academic Policy, the Committee on Admission and Financial Aid, the Committee on Budget and Finance, Library and Information Technology Committee, and the Planning Committee.

Prior to joining Hamilton in 2022, Ngoni started his career as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Williams College in 2007. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013 and Professor in 2019, and taught courses in comparative politics, African politics, famine studies, political development, political economy, causes of political violence, and democratization and institution building. Throughout his time at Williams, Ngoni was also deeply involved in college governance, including chairing the main faculty governance committee, serving as Associate Dean for Institutional Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and as interim Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Ngoni received his bachelor’s degree from Bard College in 2000; an M.A. in 2001 and an M.Phil in 2003, both in Political Science from Columbia University; and his Ph.D. from Columbia in 2008. He has published a book and a number of journal articles and book chapters, given presentations and lectures at national and international conferences, and has three book-length projects in development.

By PAMELA JIMENEZ
PAMELA JIMENEZ Program Director for the Center for Social Justice