A Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Policy Trap? Lessons from Israeli and American Higher Education
On Thursday, April 17th, at 5:00 p.m., we will gather at Washington University in St. Louis for a talk about higher education policies and DEI in times of internal and external crisis. The program will include a talk by Dr. Ayala Hendin, concluding her Israel studies postdoctoral fellowship in the Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies Department at Washington University in St. Louis, followed by comments and a conversation between Prof. Mona Khoury, Vice President for Strategy and Diversity at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Dr. Kia Caldwell, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Diversity at Washington University in St. Louis. The discussants will share their insights and experiences from recent developments in DEI policies and practices in Israel and the US.
The event is free and open to the public. It will be held in Brown Lounge in Brown Hall at the Danforth campus of Washington University in St. Louis. It will open with a kosher for Pesach reception at 5:00 p.m.
Find more JIMES events at https://jimes.wustl.edu/events.
About the Speakers:
Dr. Ayala Hendin is an Israel Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, passionate about connecting research, policy, and practice. She teaches and conducts research on Israeli politics, policy, and society, specifically within the higher education system. Currently, she is engaged in two main research projects: one on higher education policies toward ethnic, national, and religious minorities; and another on the impacts of October 7th and the subsequent war on Israeli higher education policies. Hendin held a previous fellowship at the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2021/22) after completing her PhD at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev (2021).
Prof. Mona Khoury is the Vice President for Strategy and Diversity at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is a full professor and the previous Dean of the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research area is the welfare of children and youth, with special interest in children and youth at risk who become perpetrators and victims of violent and delinquent acts. Her research addresses both the factors underlying youth violence, and the ways to prevent victimization and perpetration and promote the welfare and rights of children. In addition, she conducted several studies on parental and child development and understanding children’s rights.
Dr. Kia Lilly Caldwell is the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Diversity, Professor of African and African American Studies, and Dean’s Distinguished Professorial Scholar in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. As vice provost, Kia fosters the development of equitable faculty policies and supports the professional development, thriving, and success of all Danforth Campus faculty. She is the Principal Investigator for WashU’s NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Grant, AIM for Equity, which began in the Fall of 2024. Trained as a socio-cultural anthropologist, Kia’s research has focused on race, gender, black feminism, health policy, and HIV/AIDS in Brazil and the U.S. She is the author of Negras in Brazil: Re-envisioning Black Women, Citizenship, and the Politics of Identity and Health Equity in Brazil: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Policy and has published two anthologies, Gendered Citizenships and Engaging the African Diaspora in K-12 Education. Kia’s articles and essays have been published in numerous U.S. and Brazilian publications. She has received grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation and the American Psychological Association. She currently serves as the President of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD), which will hold its 25th anniversary conference in St. Louis this fall.