Degrees:
Ph.D., Northwestern Univ.
Diplome, Ecole Normale Superieure Paris
M.A., New School for Social Research
B.A., Univ Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne
Anna Terwiel is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science. Her research and teaching combine political theory with feminist theory, critical carceral studies, and medical humanities. She has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on the politics of punishment and abolition, ranging from debates over prison conditions (why do prisoners deserve air conditioning?) to feminist debates about the role of state punishment in the struggle against sexual and gender violence (when does feminism become "carceral"?).
Professor Terwiel's book, Prison Abolition for Realists, is forthcoming with University of Minnesota Press. The book counters common preconceptions of prison abolition as an idealistic, moral, or politically naive project, and argues that prison abolition fits in the realist political tradition. Through close readings of key abolitionist thinkers from Michel Foucault to Angela Y. Davis, Prison Abolition for Realists identifies an agonistic democratic politics at the heart of abolition. A generous Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship from the American Association of University Women ( AAUW) supported the completion of the manuscript.
Professor Terwiel also codirects Trinity's Prison Education Project (TPEP), which offers credit-bearing courses to people incarcerated at York Correctional Institution (the state's prison and jail for women and people assigned female at birth) and Hartford Correctional Center, the city's jail. In the fall of 2024, she received a Community Engagement award from Trinity College for this work.
Before coming to Trinity, Professor Terwiel taught at Northwestern University, the Feinberg School of Medicine, and, with the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project ( PNAP), Stateville Correctional Center. In the classroom, she combines theory with case studies to help students explore the contemporary political stakes of theoretical texts. She encourages students to develop their own interpretations through writing and collaborative class discussion. |