Co-Directors
Kristin Doughty is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Co-Director of the Rochester Education Justice Initiative (REJI). She has taught anthropology courses at Attica, Groveland, Albion, and Five Points Correctional Facilities, and supported REJI’s reentry work and campus engagement. A specialist in legal and environmental anthropology, she is the author of Threats to Power: Methane Extraction in Lake Kivu, Rwanda (MIT Press, 2026) and Remediation in Rwanda: Grassroots Legal Forums (U Penn Press, 2016) and co-author, with Joshua Dubler, of Going Upstate (forthcoming), which explores the carceral geography of the Rochester region. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation, and Fulbright Foundation.
Alison Peterman is Arthur Satz Professor of the Humanities, Professor of Philosophy with an appointment in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Co-Director of REJI. She has taught courses at Attica, Groveland, and Five Points Correctional Facilities, and led the design and implementation of URochester’s historic R1 bachelor’s degree curriculum at Attica. A specialist in the history of philosophy of science, she is the author of Cavendish, a monograph about 17th-century philosopher Margaret Cavendish (Routledge, 2025), and articles on various topics and figures in early modern philosophy.
Deputy Director
Eitan Freedenberg is the Deputy Director and a co-founder of REJI, directing daily operations, fiscal management, and strategic planning for REJI’s college programs at Attica, Groveland, and Wyoming Correctional Facilities. He oversees faculty hiring, curriculum development, student advising, and programmatic collaborations with SUNY, NYS DOCCS, and peer higher education in prison programs. He earned his PhD in Visual & Cultural Studies at URochester in 2020 and was the recipient of the University’s Meliora Award for staff excellence in 2023. He is a co-editor of the forthcoming The Right to Know: Higher Education in New York Prisons (NYU Press, 2027).
e.freedenberg@rochester.edu | (585) 210-3618
Academic Program Manager
Marianne Kupin-Lisbin coordinates faculty recruitment, pedagogical training and support, research/library resources, and curriculum development for REJI's college programs at Attica, Groveland, and Wyoming correctional facilities. In her role, Marianne is instrumental in planning and implementing REJI's associate and bachelor's degree programs, ensuring that academic offerings are rigorous, inclusive, and engaging for students. In addition to her administrative duties, Marianne serves as an academic advisor to students, providing guidance and support to help them navigate their academic journeys and achieve their educational goals, and is a history lecturer at all three facilities, teaching an array of courses in Western and global history. She was awarded the Edward Peck Curtis Award for Teaching (Graduate Student) in 2023.
Department Coordinator
Sebastian Lauer plays a vital role in supporting educational and reentry programs for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. He manages a variety of administrative tasks, including scheduling, enrollment, event planning, student records management, transition services, and procurement, ensuring that the operations run smoothly and efficiently. He also collaborates with other REJI staff to connect students to learning opportunities and community resources. Passionate about decarceration, Sebastian is dedicated to making a positive impact through greater access to higher education and through community organizing. His commitment to fostering connections between the campus and the community highlights his dedication to advancing educational equity and supporting successful reentry for justice-impacted individuals.
Reentry Coordinator
Thomas Gant is REJI’s Reentry Coordinator and an accomplished writer, speaker, and activist. He is a returning citizen after serving 25 years of incarceration. While serving 16 years at Attica CF, he earned an associate degree from Genesee Community College, worked as a peer mentor and facilitator, and was featured in the documentary Encountering Attica. He served as a prison hospice aide at Wende CF during Covid, an experience he chronicled in an essay for The Marshall Project. As Reentry Coordinator, he manages recruitment for the Justice Scholars program; links returning students to employment, housing, health, and social services; and provides ongoing mentorship to formerly incarcerated individuals pursuing higher education in Greater Rochester.
tgant@ur.rochester.edu | (585) 705-9778
Director, Regional Initiatives
Ed Wiltse is a Professor of English and Communication at Nazareth College. He founded and directs the Jail Project, a collaboration between Nazareth and the Monroe County Jail, which over the last twenty years has facilitated meaningful intellectual exchanges between Nazareth students and incarcerated men and women. He has taught college-in-prison courses at Albion, Groveland, and Auburn.
Faculty Steering Committee
- Kwasi Boaitey, Director of Culturally Responsive Management, Office of Equity and Inclusion; Senior Associate, Department of Health Humanities & Bioethics, School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Gloria Culver, Professor of Biology and former Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences
- Jack Downey, John Henry Newman Professor of Roman Catholic Studies and Professor of Religion and Classics
- Joshua Dubler, Associate Professor of Religion and founding director of REJI (2016–26)
- Jonathan Shelley, Assistant Professor of English, St. John Fisher University
- Allen Topolski, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Art and Art History