Karen (ren) Williams

Faculty in Residence for  Lecturer Programs

Contact Info

Campus Office: Hugh Gillis Hall 209
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0135
karen.williams@sjsu.edu
408.924.6822

Background

A Bay Area native, ren earned her BS degree in Marketing from Santa Clara University and then began a 15-year career in Marketing, Public Relations, and Organizational Training, which took her to NY for seven years. Upon her return to CA in 2003, she enrolled in SJSU’s Communication Studies Master's program, and hasn’t left! During the master's program, ren fell in love with teaching and has been a lecturer here since 2007. Ren is passionate about incorporating more equitable and inclusive approaches to her pedagogy in teaching and training. She was part of the College of Social Sciences FLC on equity and inclusion in FA22 and a offered several workshops on the subject SP23 in the CoSS Lunch & Learn series. Ren has been the Faculty in Residence for Lecturer Programs since SP24.

In addition to teaching at SJSU, ren has continued to offer professional communication training and leadership coaching in the Bay Area and internationally. She is passionate about creating liberatory learning spaces in all learning contexts and supporting others to communicate effectively in ways that uplift their lives. She is also a certified mindfulness trainer and an avid practitioner of meditation.