Author: kdwyer6

SPRING 2019 — Inside Students Only

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WORLD LITERATURE / ENG 405 / STEVEN SHANKMAN

In this course, we will read foundational works from three different ancient cultures: China, Greece, and Israel. We will pay particular attention to the question of the kinds of values that these foundational works were meant to instill in their ancient audiences. What does each culture have to say about extending or rejecting hospitality toward the stranger, on the one hand, and the very nature of what it means to be human, on the other? Emphasis will be on close and attentive reading of texts. In this class, you will develop the ability to appreciate and analyze literary texts from a variety of cultural and linguistic traditions in the ancient world. In our increasingly multicultural world, both in the classroom and in the workplace, you will be increasingly expected to develop what is called “intercultural competence.” This class, by exposing you to foundational texts from three ancient and very different cultures, will boost your “intercultural competence.”

 

PRISONER NARRATIVES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS / CAS 407/507 / KATIE DWYER

This course explores social change and conflict resolution through the lens of autobiography by incarcerated individuals whose stories and leadership influenced social movements and conflict situations. We will focus on four case studies: the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the US Civil Rights Movement, and issues of criminal justice reform today. Please note that this is a readings/correspondence course and therefore students will be expected to go above and beyond in completing the readings and considering them critically, and in completing excellent written work.

 

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND POLITICAL CHANGE / PS 386 / GERRY BERK

Periodically American politics breaks from its routine of interest group lobbying and elections; previously silent groups find a public voice; the disempowered find the courage and imagination to experiment with new forms of participation; and fundamental questions about power and democracy are posed. Still, as routinely as they arise, social movements often evaporate and politics returns to business-as-usual. What is the source of these periodic upheavals in American politics? What do the aspirations, successes and failures of social movements tell us more generally about the possibilities and limits for democratic and social reform in the United States? This course will look at 4 episodes in social movement history: the rise and fall of the labor movement in the twentieth century; the relationship between the integrationist civil rights movement and the black power movement; the “new social movements” of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, which shaped the “culture wars” that are still with us; and the movements for equality and identity that have emerged since the financial crisis of 2008.

Book Discussion: House on Mango Street at OSCI

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By Rachael, Outside Student

On April 4th, we held a book discussion on Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street at the Columbia River Correctional Institution. We began by discussing our ties to our names, home lives, and cultural upbringing in our communities. During partner and small group discussions we discussed themes in the book and how they related to our own lives. Themes we discussed were community, gender, poverty, and shame. We talked about nicknames, if we had any, and if so how they have shaped our identity differently from our given names. We discussed how this book may have been different if it had been written about a boy coming of age and how that would affect the main character’s struggles to adjust how to deal with emotions. We talked about the different experiences we have had as preteens, walking the line of adulthood and childhood and how our gender shapes what is expected of us during that transitional time. We discussed what it means to escape poverty, but then to go back and build up one’s community. When considering the idea of escaping poverty and building a new life, we talked about how that translates to getting out of prison and building a new life and community.

At the end of our discussion, we talked about who we would give this book to in our own lives and the answers were largely daughters, sisters, brothers, and others coming of age in our lives. This discussion was thought-provoking and connected the book to all of us in personal ways. Some of us had read the book before, and the discussions we had caused us to look at the book in a new light. The energy and openness in the room was amazing. The event was attended by 12 inside students from CRCI, as well as three alumni currently enrolled in UO, and two graduated PEP alumni who live in the Portland area.

PEP Exhibits Artwork from Oregon’s Prisons on UO Campus

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Throughout the spring of 2019, the Prison Education Program is exhibiting work by students and artists inside Oregon’s prisons on the University of Oregon campus. The exhibition, Emergence: Art from Inside, features work by twenty artists incarcerated at Oregon State Penitentiary and Oregon State Correctional Institution – both in Salem, Oregon – and youth from the Serbu Youth Detention Center in Eugene. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Visual Arts Team and the UO Prison Education Program.

Some artists represented in Emergence have taken many classes through UO’s programming inside these institutions, while others have not. The goal of bringing these pieces together is to offer a venue for the work and talent of incarcerated artists to emerge into a space of higher education. Likewise, to offer a glimpse into the common threads and variations emergent across work being created inside, with an opportunity for incarcerated artists to describe what art making means to them.

Emergence will be on view throughout spring term in the Erb Memorial Union’s Adell McMillan Gallery (1395 University St, Eugene). Join us for an opening reception on Thursday, April 18th from 6-7pm. Light refreshments will be served.

Discovery Group Gets Philosophical

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Throughout Winter term, Inside Out alumni have facilitated lessons at Serbu Youth Detention Center two to three times a week. The youth there choose the topics and together we have learned about Surreal Art, Groundhog Day, optical illusions, the life cycle of butterflies, the issue of endangered turtles and interesting architecture around the world.

We also held an engaged discussion on the broad topic of Philosophy. Discovery Group talked about the history of philosophers and the importance of asking questions about the world around you. We emphasized that philosophy isn’t necessarily a highly academic or intellectual subject, but instead it allows us to think more critically about society and gives us an opportunity to see the world from other people’s perspectives. Thinking philosophically helps to improve our communication and problem solving skills.

In relation to our lesson on Philosophy, Discovery Group facilitated a conversation about the story of The Ship of Theseus. In the metaphysics of identity, the ship of Theseus is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether a ship—standing for an object in general—that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. The students at Serbu all had wonderful contributions to the conversation. Some students were questioning how much of an item needs to change before it is no longer the same item. Is it all of it? Or the first piece? Another student pointed out that he believed he is still the same person, even as his body continues to grow and change.

First PEP Program at Oregon’s Only Women’s Prison

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The Prison Education Program recently facilitated our first series of workshops with the women at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. We held a two-part academic writing workshop, focused on developing arguments and supporting them with data. As we said in the advertisement, if it has ever felt like there’s a secret formula to good grades on essays…there is, and we’ll teach it.

After the academic writing workshops we brought a larger group of outside student volunteers for a Communications and Public Speaking Workshop. We held quick “elevator pitch” speech practices, activities to share skills and experiences, and closing speeches that involved some anxiety but also deep insights and mutual support. These events always involve a sense of growth and inspiration for the outside folks – we hope this was true for our inside participants as well.

We look forward to our next chance to engage with the women there!

FALL 2018 — Inside Students Only

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GEOGRAPHY OF INEQUALITY / CAS 399 / SHAUL COHEN

Our class will examine variations in concepts of “need” and “want”, both within the United States and in other parts of the world. Attention will be paid to issues of scale and location to highlight the nature of inequalities that can but do not necessarily correlate with “have/have not” or “advantaged/disadvantaged” metrics. Our sources for comparison will come from maps of geographic distribution, census and survey data, interview material, and fiction, and non-fiction. Theoretically we will draw upon work in geography on space and place, as well as from theorists and researchers in other disciplines. The goals of the course are to bring students to a point where they are able to challenge the standard binaries that accord happiness and success with “have”, and the very concepts of success and wealth that are the norm of modern capitalist society. They will also be equipped to recognize and examine discourses of success and happiness that help frame culture, identity, and economics, and to assess power and agency. As such we will engage issues such as race, gender, age, educational level, occupational status, family status, location/lifestyle, spirituality, and more.

 

CARCERAL GEOGRAPHY / GEOG 410/510 / SHAUL COHEN

This course will explore concepts in intercultural understanding as well as building skills in conflict resolution, cross-cultural work, coalition building, and individual self-reflection. We will examine both the broad frameworks for discussing cultural differences as well as thinking through the ways identity and context influence our experience of the world and our encounters with one another. Conflict resolution theories and skills will be a major focus. We will also discuss intercultural encounters in a variety of specific contexts, including education, the workplace, and in humanitarian development efforts. We will ground these concepts in our own experiences, and include real-world applications in our own lives.

 

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION / CAS 407/507 / KATIE DWYER

This course will explore concepts in intercultural understanding as well as building skills in conflict resolution, cross-cultural work, coalition building, and individual self-reflection. We will examine both the broad frameworks for discussing cultural differences as well as thinking through the ways identity and context influence our experience of the world and our encounters with one another. Conflict resolution theories and skills will be a major focus. We will also discuss intercultural encounters in a variety of specific contexts, including education, the workplace, and in humanitarian development efforts. We will ground these concepts in our own experiences, and include real-world applications in our own lives.

 

WAR, PEACE, AND HOSPITALITY IN ANCIENT POETRY AND PROSE / CLAS 405 / STEVEN SHANKMAN

We will read foundational works from three different ancient cultures: China, Greece, and Israel. We will pay particular attention to the question of the kinds of values that these foundational works were meant to instill in their ancient audiences. What do these texts teach us about the causes of war; and of how to achieve peace, particularly in regard to the wisdom of extending, or rejecting, hospitality toward the stranger? Emphasis will be on close and attentive reading of texts. Literature during this period was meant to be taken in by the ear rather than the eye, and we will emphasize the oral [spoken aloud]/aural [heard] dimension of these works. Students will train their ears to hear and scan ancient Greek and Chinese poetry, even if they do not know the ancient languages themselves; and to hear modern attempts at approximating the aural effects of ancient poetry and (in the case of the Genesis) prose.

Practicing Public Speaking at CRCI

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As part of the Prison Education Program’s ongoing monthly programming at Columbia River Correctional Institution in NE Portland, students and alumni of the PEP came together with students inside CRCI last Thursday to strengthen their public speaking skills through a fun and practical communication workshop.

The PEP hosts workshops, common readings and other educational enrichment events on the first Thursday of every month at. Past events have included a discussion of Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning and a workshop on academic writing and essay structure.

At last week’s visit, inside and outside students were interspersed across small groups who first sought to teach each other a skill in five minutes. Some kept it simple with tying shoes, making pasta and drawing circles, while others chose to teach more complicated tasks like making wheatpaste and the steps to eating Peking duck. This activity provided a chance for students to get warmed up in small groups, describing something which they are very comfortable doing.

The next activity urged participants beyond the familiar and potentially past their comfort zones, when facilitator and PEP instructor Katie Dwyer handed out “made up” words to each student. Each participant took a turn defining their word to the audience, while also being urged to be aware of body language, posture, and voice projection. The activity offered a chance for formal public speaking practice, with the humor of defining words like “nedril” and “sassee.”

More serious public speaking wrapped up the evening as participants were asked to provide a minute long argument about an issue of their choice. The only condition of the activity? That the issue must be trivial and of little importance. Participants had an opportunity to put into place the body language and voice projection skills they picked up in the last activity while building convincing rhetorical strategies to argue against the word “bro,” bottled water, and finely chopped olives, among other topics.

In all the event was attended by ten inside students from CRCI, as well as six alumni currently enrolled at UO and two graduated PEP alumni who live in the area Portland. All had the chance to grow in their public speaking confidence and add to their communication toolkits.

The PEP will return to CRCI on September 6 for a common reading of Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven, which served as the UO common reading book for the 2015-16 school year.

SUMMER 2018 – Inside Students Only

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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION / CAS 407/507 / KATIE DWYER 

This course will explore concepts in intercultural understanding as well as building skills in conflict resolution, cross-cultural work, coalition building, and individual self-reflection. We will examine both the broad frameworks for discussing cultural differences as well as thinking through the ways identity and context influence our experience of the world and our encounters with one another. Conflict resolution theories and skills will be a major focus. We will also discuss intercultural encounters in a variety of specific contexts, including education, the workplace, and in humanitarian development efforts. We will ground these concepts in our own experiences, and include real-world applications in our own lives.

THEORIES OF CARCERAL EDUCATION / GEOG 410/510 / SHAUL COHEN

In this course we will survey a broad range of contemporary carceral theorists in relation to education in prison settings, and the ways higher education in particular has served as a source of political and personal empowerment for incarcerated individuals. We will draw from carceral geography to analyze the elements of belonging, place, and control in relation to social dynamics inside, as well as exploring successful case-studies of prison education programs.

 

 

SPRING 2018 — Inside Students Only

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GREEK AND ROMAN EPICS / CLAS 301 / MARY JAEGER 

The main project of this class is to survey the three greatest surviving epics of classical antiquity. Gaining familiarity with these texts contributes to any student’s store of cultural knowledge. They are fundamental to understanding almost any part of the culture of the Greco-Roman world and provide a valuable background for the study of art and literature from antiquity to the present day. Reading and rereading them will inform you and help you become observant; discussing and writing about them will help you become more articulate.

 

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHODS AND THEORY / ANTH 406 / DIANE BAXTER 

Doing research is fundamental to the production of knowledge. There are many types of research and different methods for conducting it. One division in research methods is between qualitative and quantitative approaches. In quantitative approaches, data/events are counted and measured and often hypotheses are tested. Qualitative research is more subjective: researchers are interested in understanding the meaning people have constructed, that is, how people make sense of their world and the experiences they have in it. Qualitative research methods include participant observation, interviews, case studies as well as the utilization of secondary sources (what other people have written about the subject of interest) which result in a narrative, descriptive account of a setting, practice, and/or lived experiences and realities of a person or a group of people. Qualitative research is a situated activity that locates the observer/the researcher in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive practices that makes the world visible in particular ways. They turn the world into a series of representations, including field notes, interviews, conversations, photographs, recordings, and memos to the self. At this level, qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them.

SEMINAR NARRATIVES IN INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE / CAS 407 / SHAUL COHEN 

This course is focused upon writing as a change agent in personal, institutional, and greater societal settings. We will be reading articles and book chapters written by and about various people and groups and the change that has been been brought about due to this writing. Students will critically examine these works by experts in the field and will also present some of their own writing as part of the coursework. In the process of this course, students will gain an understanding of how writing can be used to explore and potentially change the world around us.