Our Team
Founder & Executive Director
Hilary Binda is the Founder and Executive Director of the Tufts University Prison Initiative (TUPIT) and its MyTERN College and Reentry program at Tufts. With a PhD in English Literature and as a member of the Civic Studies Department at Tufts University, she teaches Literature and theory, Gender Studies, and Carceral Studies at Tufts and in the degree program inside at 3 facilities. Hilary directs the MyTERN reentry program on the Tufts University campus, The Literatures of Justice and Storytelling for Social Change. Binda is a co-producer of theMyTERN Conversations podcast and a founder and co-editor of the national journal ReSentencing, that includes art and writing by people directly impacted by the legal system across the country. Her program directorships, teaching, as well as her current research, aims to support the development of educational access, racial and economic equity, decarceration, and decriminalization.
Reentry Program Coordinator
Originally from Lowell, MA, David Delvalle has become a fierce advocate for criminal justice reform and a skilled public speaker and organizer. Impressively, he has been able to accomplish these all while being an integral college student within TUPIT during his incarceration and after his return in MyTERN. He is currently in the one-year certificate program for Civic-Studies. David’s activities outside the classroom have focused on youth impact. He presently works in student outreach at his alma mater, Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School. David is currently the Program Manager at Haley House.
Academic Support Director
Katie Swimm
Katie Swimm is the Senior Associate Director of Academic Support at the StAAR Center. She oversees the Academic Success Coaching and Subject Tutoring Programs and works closely with her colleagues at StAAR to make sure all students at Tufts know about our resources. Her favorite part of her role is seeing students meet their goals and redefine success on their own terms. Katie has a B.F.A in Theatre Performance from Niagara University, an M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies from Tufts. At the StAAR Center, Katie first started as a Graduate Writing Consultant, and was then Assistant Director, Subject Tutoring, before she began her current role. Katie has presented at regional and national conferences on various topics concerning student support and academic support center program development including NASPA’s Student Success in Higher Education and the University of Pennsylvania’s Weingarten Center Disability Symposium. Outside of Tufts, Katie is a theatre director around Boston and has a private studio where she gives lessons in acting and scene study.
Faculty Research Director
Jill Weinberg
Faculty Admissions Coordinator
Heather Curtis
Faculty Advisory Committee
- Hilary Binda
- Heather Nathans
- Heather Curtis
- Kim Ruane
- Jill Weinberg
- John Lurz
- Erin Kelly
- Stephen Gabriel Barber
- Kirby Johnson
- Chantal Zakari
- Susan Ernst
- Kimberly Dong
- Bridget Conley
- Daanika Gordon
- Dana Grossman-Leeman
- Joanna Gray
- Stephan Pennington
- Gregory Crane
- Jennifer Eyl
- Susan Russinoff
- Maria-Concepcion Lagunas Davis
- Amy Millay
- Katherine Swimm
TUPIT Faculty and Courses
School of Arts and Sciences
- 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
- Erin Kelly, Introduction to Philosophy, Introduction to Civic Studies
- Dana Leeman, Mentorship and the Adult Learner
- John Lurz, General View of English Literature
- Heather Nathans, Acting Shakespeare
- Stephan Pennington, History of African American Music
- Quinn Phillips, The Apology
- Kim Ruane and Genevieve Walsh Quantitative Reasoning, Financial Math and Intro to Coding
- Suzy Russinoff, Ethics Bowl facilitation
- Jill Weinberg, Sociology of Law
- Roshad Meeks and Taylor Parrish, Environmental Justice and World Literature
- Amy Millay, Spanish Language
- Ravi Shankar, Memoir Writing, Poetry
- Stephen Muscolino, English
- Lloyd Sheldon Johnson, Introduction to Psychology
- Adaner Usmani, Introduction to Social Theory
- Samuel Gebru, The Art of Good Trouble: Policy, Politics, Advocacy
- Laurie Goldman, Homelessness in America
- Eugene Corbin, Introduction to Civic Studies
- B Arneson, Civic Studies Capstone
- Juliana Berte, Spanish Language
- Andre Switala, Principles of Economics
- Stephanie Khoury, Social Justice, Advocacy, and Music
Tisch College of Civic Life
School of Engineering
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
- Maxwell Bevilacqua, Negotiation and Conflict
Cohort One Fellows:
- Shakir Abdullah
- Rahim Gray
- Joseph Irizarry
- Devon McNeil
Cohort Two Fellows:
- Steven Johnson
- Bobby Iacoviello
- Aaron Smith
- Hector Bannister
- Marie Lafontant
- Eugene Ivey
Cohort Three Fellows:
- Nurudeen Alabi
- Rahmel Askari
- Christina Bernbaum
- Willie Cabrera
- David Delvalle
- Dararong Jimmy Heang
- Jeff Raphael
Undergraduate/Graduate Medford Student Coordinators
2024-2025
- Isabel Garzon
- Toluwani Oso
- Louise Bond
- Kaylee Lopez
- Brandon DeLucia
2023-2024
- Lizzie Friedman
- Isabel Garzon
- Arlyss Herzig
- Toluwani Oso
- Helena Colbert
2022-2023
- Lizzie Friedman
- Emile Naccasha
- Meira Downie
- BR rose
2021-2022
- Claudia Guetta
- Thomas Levy
- Celia Strumph
2020-2021
- Claudia Guetta
- Thomas Levy
- Celia Strumph
Graduated Staff
Quinn Williamson
Quinn Williamson was the Assistant Director for TUPIT from spring 2022 to the fall of 2024. As a member of the TUPIT team, Williamson supported the success of the programming inside prison through curriculum planning, faculty and TA coordination, and academic advising, as well as the support of the MyTERN reentry students adjusting to life out of prison. Quinn is now pursuing their PhD in Africana Studies at Brown University.
