EDUCATOR

Kaia is committed to collaboration and radical presence. In 2008, she cofounded with Bruce Western The Prison Studies Project, which has engaged hundreds of students in transformative education. Whether leading workshops in a prison, on a college campus, or in a middle school, Kaia receives outstanding student evaluations and awards for teaching excellence.
 

COURSES

Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2016–present

Transformative Justice: From Classroom to Cellblock to Community
From Plantations to Prisons: Justice, Punishment and Learning
Eye Contact, Relationship and Education
Beloved Streets: Race and Justice in America (co-taught with Tracie Jones and David Harris)
Say Her Name: Gender, Race and Punishment

Harvard University, Department of Sociology, 2010–2015

From Plantations to Prisons: An Overview of the US Punishment System
Race, Poverty, and Justice
Race, Poverty, and Community Justice, taught inside MCI Norfolk
Race, Poverty, and Family Justice, taught inside MCI Framingham

Harvard Divinity School, 2011–2014

Eye Contact, Ethics, and Interbeing
Race, Ethics, and US Prisons
Race, Ethics, and Punishment, taught inside MCI Norfolk
Ethics, Punishment, and Race, taught inside MCI Framingham

Harvard University, Department of African and African American Studies, 2011

From Plantations to Prisons: An Overview of the US Punishment System

Boston University/Harvard University, Prison Studies Project Behind Bars, 2009–2010

Public Safety and Community Justice, co-taught with Anthony Braga inside MCI Norfolk
Race, Poverty, and Community Justice, co-taught with Bruce Western inside MCI Norfolk

Boston University Prison Education Program, Summer 2009

Introduction to Liberation Theologies, advanced seminar inside MCI Framingham

University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Black Studies, 2005–2007

From Plantations to Prisons: An Overview of the US Penal System
Hurricane Katrina and Community Action Research

Sing Sing Prison, College Program, 2003–2004

Introduction to Liberation Theologies
World Religions

Emory University, College of Arts and Sciences, 2000–2001

Christianity since the Reformation, co-taught with Theophus Smith
Faith in the Face of Violence, as part of the Youth Theological Initiative

Candler School of Theology, 2000

Christian Ethics, co-taught with Elizabeth M. Bounds
 

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS

I have fully changed my way of thinking about the world from this course. Thank you.

This course challenged my views on the idea of justice and made me rethink everything from how my language can perpetuate inequality to the ways that our prison system must be changed. I am so grateful I got to take this course while at Harvard.

Aside from Professor Stern's passionate and deep knowledge of theology and social justice, she is able to create a sense of community flawlessly, providing a safe and welcoming space for students to engage in challenging subject matter. It is clear that she loves and respects her students, which is why I believe my learning was able to flourish.

I have chills writing about Professor Stern at this moment. She truly is an amazing and unique teacher. She pushed all of us to think more deeply in very gentle ways. She helped me in recognizing not only what justice for others looked like but also what justice looked like for myself. Her brief lectures were always powerful and transformative. Her guidance of discussions is something I will always look to as a model for how I would like to lead in the future.

It is truly amazing to be surrounded by Kaia's kindness, compassion, and deep empathy. She comes to this work with a passion for justice and seeks difficult conversations. It was so refreshing to have a professor who modeled vulnerability and valued human connection over anything else.

I took this class as a personal growth exploration and I leave with way more than that. I have left with a new perspective on justice and new ideas of abolition and a thirst for imagining a world without prisons. I am a changed person after this class. My ideas of social justice have been greatly challenged and expanded. I wish everyone in the world could take this class. Education would be different if all students could take a transformative justice class like this one at least once in their life.

Kaia's care for her students and passion for the topic come through in every class. Thank you, Kaia!