#  Thomas Alan Dichter 

 



   ![Thomas Dichter smiling, wearing dark blazer and glasses, with wood paneled background](/sites/g/files/omnuum3816/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/IMG_2856%20copy.jpeg?itok=0Q-CAZLI) 

 

I'm a scholar of American culture and literature and an organizer committed to building opportunities for currently and formerly incarcerated people to lead. I collaborate with nonprofits and educational institutions to break down barriers for people impacted by the legal system.

From 2015 to 2025, I was a Lecturer in [History & Literature](https://histlit.fas.harvard.edu/) at Harvard, where I taught classes and advised research in American studies and ethnic studies, including community-engaged courses with the [Mindich Program for Engaged Scholarship](https://engagedscholarship.fas.harvard.edu/). In History & Literature, I created Harvard's first class on prison abolitionism. Along with my students, I launched a digital archive of the [1973 Walpole prison takeover](https://walpole1973npradigitalarchive.omeka.fas.harvard.edu/)—during which the population of a Massachusetts state prison successfully organized themselves and ran the institution for over two months following a labor strike by correctional officers.

At Harvard, I was also a founding member of [Harvard Academic Workers-UAW](https://harvardacademicworkers.org/), the labor union representing over 3000 non-tenure-track teachers and researchers. Additionally, I helped run an equity-focused [fellowship program](https://cff.hms.harvard.edu/) at Harvard Medical School (I am currently back in that role for Fall 2025) and worked with the [Culture Lab Innovation Fund](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/11/harvard-culture-lab-innovation-fund-grants-awarded-to-12-projects/) to advance fair-chance hiring and admissions at Harvard—policies to welcome employees and students regardless of criminal history.

I've also taught at Amherst College and Boston College, and in Harvard's English department. I hold an undergraduate degree in English from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania.



 

Contact:



 

 



 [ draftsdichter@post.harvard.edu](mailto:dichter@post.harvard.edu) [ draftsthomasdichter@gmail.com](mailto:thomasdichter@gmail.com) [  arrow\_forward  LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-dichter-a7127167/)