Our Team

Founding Director: Hilary Binda

Director of the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College, Hilary Binda has a PhD in English, serves as Director of the Tufts Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and is a Senior Lecturer in Civic Studies. Her current research aims to support the development of educational access, equity, and decriminalization.

Assistant Director: Quinn Williamson

Research Coordinator: Jill Weinberg

Admissions Coordinator: Heather Curtis

Journal Coordinator: John Lurz

TUPIT Faculty Advisory Committee Members

Hilary Binda, Civic Studies, Women’s, Gender, Sexuality Studies, A&S, CHAIR Bridget Conley, World Peace Foundation, Fletcher School  Heather Curtis, Religion; Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora, A&S  Greg Crane, Classics, A&S  Kim Dong-Breen, Public Health, Tufts School of Medicine  Kevin Dunn, English, A&S; Vice Provost  Daanika Gordon, Sociology, A&S  Kirby Johnson, Tufts School of Medicine; Office of the Vice Provost for Research  Erin Kelly, Philosophy, A&S  Peter Levine, Political Science; Civic Studies, A&S; Associate Dean of Tisch College  John Lurz, English, A&S  Heather Nathans, Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; Dean of Academic Affairs; Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, A&S  Kim Ruane, Math, A&S  Jill Weinberg, Sociology, A&S  Chantal Zakari, Graphic Arts, School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University Amy Millay, Romance Studies, A&S

TUPIT Faculty & Courses

Faculty join the program from across Tufts University, and offer a wide array of courses to the TUPIT students.

Faculty listed below by school, with Tufts courses taught in the college-in-prison program.

School of Arts and Sciences

• Liz Ammons and Modhumita Roy, Environmental Justice and World Literature
• Hilary Binda, Poetry and Visual Art; Gender and Literature; Writing Composition
• Gregory Crane, Comparative Epic
• Heather Curtis, Religion and Politics in American History
• María-Concepción Lagunas Davis, Spanish Language
• Kevin Dunn, The English Bible; Short Fiction
• Susan Ernst; Introduction to Biology
• Jennifer Eyl, From Jesus to Yeezus
• Daanika Gordon, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
• Kareem Khubchandani
• Erin Kelly, Introduction to Philosophy, Introduction to Civic Studies
• Dana Leeman, Mentorship and the Adult Learner
• John Lurz, General View of English Literature
• Jamie Maguire
• Heather Nathans, Acting Shakespeare
• Stephan Pennington, History of African American Music
• Quinn Phillips, The Apology
• Kim Ruane, Quantitative Reasoning, Financial Math and Intro to Coding
• Suzy Russinoff, Ethics Bowl facilitation
• Jill Weinberg, Sociology of Law
• Daanika Gordon, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
• Roshad Meeks and Taylor Parrish, Environmental Justice and World Literature
• Conchita Davis, Spanish 
• Amy Millay, Spanish
• Stephan Pennington, History of African American Music 
• Ravi Shankar, Memoir Writing, Poetry
• Stephen Muscolino, English 
• Lloyd Sheldon Johnson, Introduction to Psychology 
• Adaner Usmani, Introduction to Social Theory

Tisch College of Civic Life

• Peter Levine

School of Engineering

• Chris Swan

Tufts University School of Medicine

• Kim Dong-Breen, Nutrition Science
• Kirby Johnson, Introduction to Genetics
• Fernando Ona, Health and Human Rights
• Carolyn Rubin

School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University

• Eulogio Guzman, Latin American Art and Architecture
• Chantal Zakari, Graphic Arts
• Michael Smoot, Drawing 

The Fletcher School

• Bridget Conley, International Law and Civil Society: Genocide
• Bridget Conley and Alex DeWaal, African Narratives 

MyTERN Speakers Bureau

TUPIT Student Coordinators

• BR Rose
  
• Meira Downie
• Emile Naccasha
• Lizzie Friedman
• Jack Steen 
• Evan Zlotnick

Program Research & Assessment Committee

• Hilary Binda, Kim Dong, Daanika Gordon, Claudia Guetta, Ella Missan, Jill Weinberg