معرفی
Leanne Trapedo Sims is the Daniel J. Logan Associate Professor of Peace and Justice and Chair of the Peace and Justice program at Knox College, where she has served since 2021. She directs the Prison Education program at Henry Hill Correctional Center and is developing an Inside-Out Prison Exchange program, focusing on critical carceral studies and abolition within an interdisciplinary peace and justice framework.
Professor Sims earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (2017), with additional graduate degrees in Education (Fordham University, 2006), Performance Studies (New York University, 1997), and Creative Writing (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1991), plus a B.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Her research interrogates intersections of gender, Indigeneity, violence, and state power in colonized Hawai‘i through feminist ethnography. She examines critical prison studies, restorative justice, and queer Indigeneities, with fieldwork conducted at Hawai‘i's Women's Correctional Community Center (2012-2016). Her work emphasizes community-based activism and coalition building to transform carceral systems.
Professor Sims' publications, including her 2023 Duke University Press book and articles in Signs and Frontiers, consistently bridge academic scholarship with creative expression. Her work explores incarcerated women's resistance through prison writing while incorporating poetry and nonfiction to address trauma, identity, and decolonial justice frameworks across diverse cultural contexts.
Her major recognitions include:
- Envisioning Justice grants from Illinois Humanities (2021-2023, totaling $25,550)
- American Dissertation Fellowship from AAUW ($20,000, 2016)
- Nomination for National Women’s Studies Association First Book Prize (2018)
- Creative Nonfiction prize, Ian MacMillan Writing Contest (2015)
- Multiple University of Hawai‘i dissertation awards (2013-2015)
As program chair and Prison Education director, Professor Sims mentors students through hands-on engagement with carceral justice initiatives. She has secured significant grant funding for community partnerships and is developing curriculum centered on abolitionist frameworks, with a focus on preparing students for activism through the nascent Inside-Out program.
Professor Sims is establishing foundational work for a Restorative Justice Laboratory at Knox College, envisioned as an incubator for activists, artists, and impacted communities addressing mass incarceration in Galesburg and Chicago. This initiative builds on her Hawai‘i research and Walls to Bridges training to create community-driven solutions for reparative justice.
