Emerson College Library: Teach-in on Race 2024: Session 5: Unlocking Learning: Education in Prison

Session 5: Unlocking Learning: Education in Prison

Thursday, February 8, 9:30-10:30 AM - Little Building, Student Performance Center

This presentation highlights how access to education in prison interrupts social hierarchies to create second chances for people whom the criminal legal system has discarded. Incarcerated learners create a new normal as they have the opportunity to present themselves as students in the classroom rather than solely as people in prison.

Facilitators: Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor and Director of the Emerson Prison Initiative (EPI), Emerson College, and Mac Hudson ’23, Community Liaison Coordinator, Racial Equity in Corrections Initiative, EPI

Resources by Presenters

Education Behind the Wall by Mneesha Gellman (Editor)
An edited volume reflecting on different aspects of teaching in prison and different points of view. This book seeks to address some of the major issues faced by faculty who are teaching college classes for incarcerated students. Composed of a series of case studies meant to showcase the strengths and challenges of teaching a range of different disciplines in prison, this volume brings together scholars who articulate some of the best practices for teaching their expertise inside alongside honest reflections on the reality of educational implementation in a constrained environment.

Unlocking Learning - book celebration
Join the Emerson Prison Initiative (EPI) to celebrate the publication of Unlocking Learning: International Perspectives on Education in Prison. Co-editor Mneesha Gellman, EPI Director and Associate Professor of Political Science, will lead a panel discussion. Light refreshments will be served.

Unlocking Learning
How can people involved in carceral interventions learn from work in carceral settings outside the United States? This volume addresses this question by gathering international perspectives to the field of education in prison that could inform carceral interventions elsewhere, including in the United States.

Key Cases, Prisoner Rights, and Legal Support

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 26
A key part of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights is Article 26, which establishes the human right to education for all.
Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts - Racial Equity in Corrections Initiative (REICI)
The Racial Equity in Corrections Initiative (REICI) is an organization-wide initiative offered through Prisoner Legal Services, a nonprofit and anti-racist organization, that advocates equity and the humane treatment of incarcerated people in the Commonwealth. REICI’s mission is to build awareness, solutions, and leadership to combat institutional racism and the discriminatory treatment of black and brown people in day-to-day correctional operations through client and legislative advocacy; community building and education; internal efforts designed to increase staff understanding of racial equity work and an anti-racist policy; and litigation.

The Emerson Prison Initiative

Emerson Prison Initiative
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.
Reentry & College Outside Program (RECOUP)--Emerson Prison Initiative
The Reentry and College Outside Program (RECOUP) is an Emerson Prison Initiative program to support formerly incarcerated college students as they transition to life outside of prison. EPI recognizes that students can only consider continuing to pursue higher educational and employment goals once basic needs are met. Taking this stance as our foundation, RECOUP staff first assess a student’s needs, including food, housing, healthcare and employment, and then work to help the student meet those needs. RECOUP staff can help facilitate student planning and logistics for educational and future goals.

Emerson Prison Initiative Language Guidelines
Recognizing the power of language to shape both public perception and self-image, this brief guide offers EPI's recommendations and rationale for what language to use when discussing people who are incarcerated and education in prison.

Emerson College Iwasaki Library - Education in Prison Conference Research Guide
A collection of resources compiled by the Iwasaki Library IDEAS team to support research following the Education In Prison Conference.

Teach-in on Race 2024

Session 5:   Unlocking Learning: Education in Prison

Resources by Presenters

Key Cases, Prisoner Rights, and Legal Support

The Emerson Prison Initiative

Session 5: Unlocking Learning: Education in Prison