“Prison is supposed to be a rehabilitation place and isn’t, but education is,” Kyle says. Kyle, a graduating senior, has been the reentry intern with the PEP for two years. His work largely focuses on creating and expanding resources for people reentering society...
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The Prison Education Program at the University of Oregon
The Prison Education Program was established in 2016, founded in response to an expansion from the Inside-Out classes that began at the UO in 2007. We are now active in offering classes, not-for-credit opportunities, and in working to advance educational opportunities for people who are incarcerated statewide.
In addition to offering for-credit classes inside the prisons, we also have a variety of not-for-credit activities, including:
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Book discussions, including bilingual discussions conducted in Spanish and English
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Academic workshops, including academic writing and communication skills
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A UO student internship and “alumni” program – students are involved in assisting with classes, running a discussion group at a juvenile facility, holding outreach events with at-risk youth, and running book drives to support prison education.
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Educational TV programming sent to all Oregon institutions through PEP TV
- Learning, Engagement, and Activities Packets (LEAP) and correspondence for people in special housing units
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Lectures by UO faculty on a wide variety of subjects
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Coordinated engagement between clubs at OSP and corresponding clubs at the UO
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On-campus an inside exhibitions of artwork by insiders donated to the program
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Book donations to multiple prisons, including special requests from staff at the prisons for particular subject areas and Spanish language materials
We work in an interdisciplinary academic framework, and with a broad range of students, campus organizations, community groups, and national organizations working to improve educational opportunities in prisons.
Intern Spotlight – Kyle
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Intern Applications Open for 2024-2025 School Year
Announcing: Prison Education Program internship applications open for our internship for the upcoming year! Applications are due April 5th by 11:59pm The University of Oregon’s Prison Education Program is opening applications for our 2024-2025 internship. Our interns...
Announcing: 2024 Spring Term Inside-Out classes
Inside-Out classes take place inside a prison, with an equal number of campus-based students and incarcerated (“inside”) students. Classes are discussion based and have had an incredibly positive impact on both the outside and inside students. Because of the drive...
Art Show February 4th-March 8th
Join us for our 4th annual Prison Education Program art show, Hope: A Human Right. Art from both formerly and currently incarcerated individuals in Oregon will be displayed in the Erb Memorial Union Adell McMillan Gallery on the University of Oregon campus from...
Celebration with Oxford Consortium for Human Rights
On December 10th, the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights, a program centered on research and workshops regarding humanitarian aid, global conflict and peace building, hosted an event on the University of Oregon Campus to recognize important work being done at UO...
PEP at Lane County’s Garden for Good Event
Most of the good ideas from our program have come from our inside – or formerly inside – leaders. This time the idea came from Shawn, who graduated with his BA from the UO while still inside and then went on to complete a master’s degree at the UO once he...
The University of Oregon’s Prison Education Program stands against racism in all its forms – overt, unconscious, and systemic. We are committed to combating inequality and violence through conversations in our classes, our projects, and among ourselves.
We stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, recognizing the unequal violence and structural hardships faced by our Black students, neighbors, colleagues, and leaders.
We hope that in this moment greater equality can be achieved for all those who suffer discrimination and prejudice. We commit to being present in that fight.
One of the inspirations for Inside-Out’s pedagogy, Paolo Freire, uses the analogy that “we make the road by walking.” We as a society are making that way forward now – through protests in the streets, independent study, tough conversations, and interruption of violence and discrimination. We commit to continuing in that work – to use another quote that frequently appears in our programmatic conversations, “once you know, you owe.” The existence and impact of systemic racism is not new news to us, and we recommit ourselves to the ongoing work of social justice through education and dialogue.
