Teach-in on Race 2021

Nearly 70 years before the Emerson Prison Initiative (EPI) launched, the College was facilitating the exchange of ideas inside prison through its award-winning debate team. This through-line in Emerson’s mission is being explored through an exhibit currently on display in the Iwasaki Library, Disrupting Mass Incarceration: Six Decades of Emerson Prison Education.

EPI provides rigorous liberal arts education to the inaugural EPI cohort of twenty incarcerated students at Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Concord (MCI Concord). Students are working towards a Bachelor’s degree in Media, Literature, and Culture from Emerson College. EPI does not offer classes at any other facilities. EPI students have a range of preparation for college. Some have taken numerous college classes prior to prison or while incarcerated, some have just completed their GEDs and are brand new to college, and some completed their GEDs or high school diplomas years or even decades ago while either outside or inside prison.

This new research from FWD.us and Cornell University examines the important but often overlooked aspects of over-incarceration in America, and how its impact extends beyond the prison walls on to the families on the other side.

View and compare key state criminal justice data
The Sentencing Project compiles state-level criminal justice data from a variety of sources. Using our website's state-by-state data feature, you can navigate between interactive maps, tables, and rankings that allow you to access and use these data.

Various reports which include statistics, frequently asked questions, and data regarding the Massachusetts Department of Correction's prison population.