Dr. Maya Dimant

Biography

Maya Dimant is a Lecturer at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, where her work centers on racial justice and the deconstruction of the modern carceral state through an intersection of experiential pedagogy, law, and alternative dispute resolution. She is passionate about developing creative pedagogical models that empower students to become bold advocates for decarceration. Dimant teaches experiential classes that are rooted in theory and policy, equipping students with critical tools in negotiation, mediation, restorative justice, as well as oral and written advocacy. She emphasizes the importance of interviewing, investigation simulations, and iterative feedback by leveraging lived experiences. Previously, she served as a Friedman Fellow and Co-director of the Prisoner Reentry Clinic at George Washington University Law School, where she supervised students in representing incarcerated individuals and co-taught a seminar focused on the institutionalized white supremacy that has contributed to the creation of the prison industrial complex. Dimant also has experience as an Assistant Public Defender in Maryland, where she represented over 1,000 clients in misdemeanor and felony proceedings after completing the Gideon's Promise training. Additionally, she was an Equal Justice Works Fellow with the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy in Evanston, IL, where she trained as a mediator and restorative justice circle keeper for a project that aimed to break the school-to-prison pipeline for students from low-income families.

Research Interests

Experience