Emerson College Library: Education in Prison: Conference on College in Prison 2025: Day 1, Keynote and Panels

Conference Reports

Emerson Today: From ‘Porous Walls’ to ‘Permanent Exile’: EPI Conference Examines History of U.S. Prisons
Erin Clossey reports on the Keynote and Alumnus Spotlight for Emerson Today.
Berkeley Beacon: Two-day Emerson Prison Initiative conference spans importance of education in prison, hope, and justice
Numerous reporters from the Berkeley Beacon provide detailed writeups of each event during the conference, including the first day's panels as well as the film screening blocks from the second day.

Welcome and Opening Address

Welcome: Alex Socarides, Emerson Provost

Opening: Mneesha Gellman, EPI Founding Director, "The Purpose of Education in Prison"

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.

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
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.

Unintended consequences: experimental evidence for the criminogenic effect of prison security level placement on post-release recidivism
This study presents experimental data which demonstrates that assigning people to a higher security level in the California prison system significantly increases the likelihood that they will return to prison after release. In other words, putting the same person in a higher-security prison makes it more likely that they will commit more crimes after release.
Is Imprisonment Criminogenic?: A Comparative Study of Recidivism Rates between Prison and Suspended Prison Sanctions
This study finds that alternatives to custody are more effective than imprisonment in decreasing recidivism.
Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair, by Danielle Sered
Widely recognized as one of the leading proponents of a restorative approach to violent crime, Sered asks us to reconsider the purposes of incarceration and argues persuasively that the needs of survivors of violent crime are better met by asking people who commit violence to accept responsibility for their actions and make amends in ways that are meaningful to those they have hurt—none of which happens in the context of a criminal trial or a prison sentence.
Available as print and ebook from the Boston Public Library—contact a librarian if you need help getting access.
Beatings, overcrowding and food deprivation: US deportees face distressing human rights conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prison
Gellman's scholarship outside of EPI includes research into prison conditions in El Salvador, such as this article published just before the conference.
US deportees face brutal conditions in El Salvador mega-prison: ‘Severe overcrowding, inadequate food’
Just after the conference ended, the Guardian published this interview with Gellman, in which she again discusses the state of prisons in El Salvador and the prospects for the group of Venezuelans that the Trump administration deported for confinement there.

The Crimmigrant Other: Migration and Penal Power by Katja Franko
Western societies are immersed in debates about immigration and illegality. This book examines these processes and outlines how the figure of the "crimmigrant other" has emerged not only as a central object of media and political discourse, but also as a distinct penal subject connecting migration and the logic of criminalization and insecurity. Illegality defines not only a quality of certain acts, but becomes an existential condition, which shapes the daily lives of large groups within the society.
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault
In this work, the author suggests that such vaunted reforms as the abolition of torture and the emergence of the modern penitentiary have merely shifted the focus of punishment from the prisoner's body to his soul.

The Case for Correctional Education in U.S. Prisons
A report from RAND shows the clear benefits of education in prison.
Partakers
Partakers supports programs like EPI by providing mentors for incarcerated students.

Keynote Address

Keynote: Dr. Reiko Hillyer, "A Wall is Just a Wall"

Introduced by: Mneesha Gellman

Designing Dixie by Reiko Hillyer
Although many white southerners chose to memorialize the Lost Cause in the aftermath of the Civil War, boosters, entrepreneurs, and architects in southern cities believed that economic development, rather than nostalgia, would foster reconciliation between North and South. In Designing Dixie, Reiko Hillyer shows how these boosters crafted distinctive local pasts designed to promote their economic futures and to attract northern tourists and investors.

A Wall Is Just a Wall: the Permeability of the Prison in the Twentieth-century United States
Reiko Hillyer's latest book demonstrates that the current impermeability of the prison is neither natural nor inevitable, but rather a recent, uneven, and contested phenomenon.
Available in print from the Boston Public Library.
Duke University Press: Q&A with Reiko Hillyer on "A Wall is Just a Wall"
In this conversation, Hillyer lays out some of the ideas presented in her book and the conference presentation.
The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program
The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program involves courses taught in prisons with an even combination of incarcerated and free students. Hillyer teaches an Inside-Out course on the history of crime and punishment in the United States at Columbia River Correctional Institution.
I Think of You: Illuminating Mass Incarceration from the Inside Out
I Think of You is a devised theatre piece created by Hillyer's Inside-Out course. Thanks to grant funding from the Oregon Community Foundation, the piece was able to be performed at Portland Center Stage by professional actors, although its incarcerated cocreators were not able to attend.
The Angolite - Louisiana State Penitentiary Prison Magazine
The Angolite is an award-winning magazine edited and published by people incarcerated at Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola). It began publication in 1953, and in 1975 the magazine was formally established by the prison as part of court-ordered reforms.
The Marshall Project: Willie Horton Revisited
The Willie Horton case—in which Horton, serving a life-without-parole sentence, escaped while on furlough and was convicted of further violent crimes—was a flashpoint for tough-on-crime rhetoric and the loss of incarcerated people's rights. Here, the Marshall Project revisits the story thirty years later, including interviews with Horton and Michael Dukakis, whose presidential campaign faced infamous attack ads featuring Horton.

Alumnus Spotlight

From Incarceration to Innovation: Building Legacy Through Purpose: David Baxter '22

Introduced by: Betsey Chace

David Baxter: Motivational Dreamers
Baxter, who is an EPI alumnus, founded Motivational Dreamers, a public speaking company that specializes in empowering individuals and organizations to reach their full potential. During the event, he gave out a college scholarship as part of his TEARS initiative. Below, see a talk he gave as part of TEDxRoxbury.

Alumni Panel: Reversing the Pipeline: From Prison to Campus & Careers

Reversing the Pipeline: From Prison to Campus & Careers

Panelists: Charles Rosario '22, Kevin Keo '22, Siraaj Abdulnur '24

Moderator: Cara Moyer-Duncan

Transformational Prison Project
Transformational Prison Project is a restorative justice organization founded by men incarcerated in MCI-Norfolk in 2013. After TPP leaders began to come home the organization expanded to exist outside the prison. EPI alum Kevin Keo is a Restorative Justice Facilitator/Circle Keeper with TPP.
Emerson Prison Initiative Course History
Panelists discussed courses that were memorable or had a strong influence on them, including coursework on Power, Acting, Theatre, and Media Criticism.

Audience question: Malcolm X said that "People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book." Can you tell me a book that had that influence on you?

Power: a reader by Mark Haugaard
Kevin mentioned a book on Power (not necessarily this one) which they read in their first class. Although it was an anthology of difficult essays that he struggled to understand initially, he said that eventually it became a touchstone that made sense with reflection.

The Spook Who Sat by the Door (available from BPL)
Siraaj's pick was this novel by Sam Greenlee, which depicts a Black 'diversity hire' who is sidelined at the CIA but takes what he learned to organize a Black uprising.
The spook who sat by the door / A Bokari Ltd. production ; screenplay by Sam Greenlee, Mel Clay ; produced by Ivan Dixon, Sam Greenlee ; directed by Ivan Dixon.
Visit the Emerson library to borrow this DVD of the film adaptation of Greenlee's novel, directed by Ivan Dixon and originally released in 1973.

Blood in My Eye by George L. Jackson
Charles answered with Blood in My Eye by George Jackson, a work of radical political philosophy that was completed just days before the author's death at the hands of prison guards in San Quentin. He had read read the book years before EPI, but revisited it after completing the program and found that he understood it in a new way.

Massissippi Film Screening and Panel on Racial Disparities in Corrections

Massissippi

Directed by: Mac Hudson '23

Panel on Racial Disparities in Corrections

Panelists: Omar Abdur-Rahim, Stacey Borden, Gregory Davis

Moderator: Dwayne Cruthird

Introduced by: Stephen Shane

The Center for Teen Empowerment
Omar Abdur-Raheem, panelist and one of the people featured in the film, is a mentor for the Visions of the Future program at the Center for Teen Empowerment.
Elders of Empire | Omar Haamid Abdur-Rahim
Omar tells his own story in this twenty-minute video produced by The Opus Experiment.
New Beginnings Reentry Services
Stacey Borden, also a panelist and subject of the film, founded New Beginnings Reentry Services in 2016 after spending nearly thirty years in and out of prison in order to help survivors of incarceration heal and reenter society.
Metro Boston Alive
The third film subject and panelist, Gregory Davis, is executive director of Metro Boston Alive, a non-profit organization committed to restoring hope and rebuilding purpose for our Black and Brown community members and their families that are dealing with the effects of substance use disorder.
The Peaceful Movement
This is the first publication of the Peaceful Movement Committee (PMC), which was formed as a coalition of MCI-Concord residents, staff, and community members dedicated to correctional reform in the wake of the prison riot at Attica. Gregory Davis was chair of the organization in the '70s and spoke about how they responded to tensions during the Walpole strike in 1973.
Prisoners' Peaceful Movement
Read a number of issues of the Peaceful Movement Committee's newspaper, including columns written by Davis.
The John Boone Era: Historical Context
The brief tenure of John Boone as Commissioner of Correction in Massachusetts plays an important role in the film. Boone was the first Black Commissioner of Correction in the United States and was appointed with a reform agenda, but faced significant resistance until he was forced to resign.
An Act creating an independent correctional oversight office to facilitate the recommendations of the special legislative commission on structural racism in correctional facilities of the Commonwealth.
Panelists and attendees discussed support for this bill, which would enable the Massachusetts legislature to have greater oversight over issues of structural racism in the Department of Corrections.
Prisoners' Legal Services: Legislative Priorities
Learn more about H.2636 and other current bills related to the correctional system that are supported by Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts.

Rights Panel

Fighting for the Rights of Incarcerated People

Panelists: Lizz Matos, Calvin Arey, Michael Milleman

Moderator: Mneesha Gellman

Richmond Magazine: The Unbroken
Panelist Calvin Arey, now a Massachusetts resident, was one of several incarcerated people whose historic 1971 lawsuit forced significant reforms in the Virginia penal system.
An End to Bread and Water
In this story for Inquest, Arey tells even more of the story in his own words.
Virginia State Penitentiary: A Notorious History
A reader of this history of the Virginia State Penitentiary located Arey after he thought he had left his legal history behind, leading to the Richmond Magazine article and other chances for him to tell his story.
Available as an ebook from the Boston Public Library - contact a librarian if you need help getting access.
The Unconstitutionality of Prison Life
Michael Millemann is an influential attorney with a long career of supporting prisoners' rights, including Calvin Arey: they met in person for the first time in decades for this panel. In 1969, he cowrote this article, which illustrates the unconstitutionality of real conditions within the prison system.
Donnie Andrews, Baltimore criminal who inspired TV character on ‘The Wire,’ dies at 58
Millemann, quoted in this article, helped to finally get Donnie Andrews out of prison in 2005.
Emerson community members have access to the Washington Post through the library - contact a librarian if you need help.
Releasing Older Prisoners Convicted of Violent Crimes: The Unger Story by Michael Millemann, Jennifer Elisa Chapman, and Samuel P. Feder
During the panel, Millemann described this landmark case, which resulted in the release of 200 people whose pre-1981 convictions were found to have been invalid based on an unconstitutional instruction given to all juries prior to that time.
Families for Justice as Healing
Families for Justice as Healing is led by incarcerated women, formerly incarcerated women, and women with incarcerated loved ones. Their mission is to end the incarceration of women and girls.
Participatory Defense
Participatory defense is a model used by Families for Justice as Healing and other organizations which mobilizes their communities to empower people who are being prosecuted and their families.
Report highlights declines in Massachusetts crime and incarceration rates since 2018 criminal justice reforms
Lizz Matos, former head of Prisoners' Legal Services and current Civil Rights Division Chief and Senior Advisor to the Attorney General of Massachusetts, described a number of areas in which advocates are working to improve the status of imprisoned people in Massachusetts. One example is the 2018 criminal justice reform bill, which has led to notable improvements but leaves much work still to be done.
Hearing-Impaired Massachusetts Prisoners Win ADA Case
Another win was this case, which compels the Department of Corrections to provide deaf and hard of hearing people with the accommodations to which they are entitled under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Prisoners Are Front And Center At Historic Legislative Hearing
In 2023, nearly thirty incarcerated people located at various institutions in Massachusetts were able to testify on a number of bills related to the state criminal legal system. This was the first time in recent memory that incarcerated people were able to testify, using video call technology thanks to round-the-clock advocacy from a number of organizations, although decades ago (before the loss of rights documented by Hillyer in her keynote) they might have had the opportunity to visit the legislature in order to testify in person.
Prison Book Program
Prison Book Program is a nonprofit organization in Quincy, MA that sends packages of free, hand-selected books to incarcerated readers in all 50 states.