During fall term, the PEP operated in both the Oregon State Penitentiary and Oregon State Correctional Institution to offer two inside-out courses and two inside courses. We had a total of 72 inside students during the term. One of our courses, Mercy and the Rule of Law, an inside-out course at OSCI proved to be an insightful experience for inside and outside students alike. To learn more about this experience, our PEP intern, JJ, shared her insights from being the course’s learning assistant (LA) where she coordinated course logistics, gave feedback on student’s assignments, and served as an assistant to professor Kristen Bell.
This is JJ’s second year as an intern with the PEP. During her time with the program, she has taken on a variety of roles including but not limited to serving as our administrative intern for the current school year, helping with art show coordination, and serving on the fundraising committee. As a General Social Sciences student on the pre-law track, JJ was perfectly suited to be the LA for this course.
Mercy and the Rule of Law focused on philosophical topics and how they relate to the legal system.
Specifically, JJ said that “the students altogether were challenged to think holistically about arguments and theoretical concepts in philosophy in law,” and this led to a strong community mindset within the course’s students. Furthermore, the class was challenged to come together to discuss topics that often led to unanswerable questions, pushing students to further engage with one another.”
Personally, JJ believes that her experiences as an LA have impacted her life beyond the classroom. Particularly, it challenged her to learn about concepts more specifically and to empathize with the students as she learned about them through their work for the class. She believes that this experience taught her how to think more clearly in the realm of problem-solving, and says that the experience was “truly invaluable.”