Educational opportunities inside Oregon prisons and in the community
This is an excellent article, and very glad to see one of our University of Oregon graduates, Sterling Cunio, quoted! Books can be life-changing, and we have seen that impact in our classes, workshops, book discussions, and when people apply to take our classes.
Used paperbacks change lives behind bars, even with growing prison book bans
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 regarding human rights. Many PEP interns and past Inside students were present, along with PEP Director, Shaul Cohen, and Program Coordinator Katie Dwyer, who is also affiliated with the Oxford program and emceed the event.
The event began with UO President, Karl Scholtz, speaking about the significance of the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights. He also highlighted the tremendous impacts of the P.E.P. for incarcerated students, campus students, and the broader community in Oregon and beyond. Hugo Slim, the co-founder of the Oxford Consortium specifically spoke about Shaul’s contributions to prison education and how essential he has been in making education more accessible for Inside Students. Many of the students in the Oxford Program have taken Inside-Out classes.
Prior Inside-Out students also spoke at this event. Shawn McWeeney, a former Inside student, shared insights about how his time taking PEP courses both aided him while Inside and now, as he has re-entered society and is active in community service work. Beatrice, a former Outside student and current PEP Intern, discussed her positive experiences working with Shaul through being a PEP intern and a member of Carnegie Global Oregon Ethics Program that he also directs. Both students highlighted the importance of the PEP in their education, and its influence on them in terms of career pathways.
Sister Helen Prejean, the author of Dead Man Walking, shared her insights about how important education is as well as the high quality and immense quantity of work that Shaul does for prison education in Oregon, and how such work should be happening everywhere. Specifically, she stated “what Shaul and others have done in prison education is crucial, crucial for the redemption of human lives, the restoration of lives, and the developing of the potential that is in every human being which education brings forward.” Furthermore, Prejean emphasized the importance of education in developing personhood. You can view a recording of Sister Henlen’s Prejean’s contribution here.
To finish off the evening, the Oxford Consortium gave Shaul an award acknowledging his work with Human Rights. In his honor, they have created two “Shaul Cohen Fellowships” to support future participants in Consortium programs.
In 2022, Prison Education Program collected feedback from our community and beyond on Resonance: Art from Inside. We compiled the feedback into a booklet that we mailed to the artists who generously donated their talents to the show. Along with photos of their art displayed in a gallery for hundreds of students to see daily, the artists received photos of community members enjoying the closing reception and individual feedback on the art pieces they donated. Those that received these booklets expressed their gratitude for being able to see their work on UO’s campus, and for the written feedback provided on their art. The feedback was a connection to the outside world, it gave them confidence, it made them smile.
Now, we are doing the same. Sense of Place: Art from Inside is currently on display in the EMU, and we are asking you, our community, to help us gather feedback to the artists who donated their work to the exhibit.
We are asking for your support by providing your feedback on as many of the show’s pieces as you’d like! Please share this request widely, we appreciate your support!
Click the link here to be connected to a Google Form. This Google form will ask for your name and email, and then it will allow you to view each piece in the exhibit. Take a moment to share your thoughts on as many or as few pieces that you can. Share words of encouragement, tell the artist how their piece made you feel, compliment their color choice — whatever feels right.
OR
Click on the title of each piece in this slideshow to be connected to a Qualtrics Survey where you can leave feedback.
If you are local to the University of Oregon campus, please join us this Thursday 3/9 at 6pm in the Adell McMillam Gallery on the 2nd floor of the EMU. Light refreshments will be provided. All are welcome.
The Prison Education Program is recruiting student interns for the 2022 – 2023 academic year. Our interns help us with all elements of our program, providing support for in-person classes inside the prisons, distance learning, in-person events, communication, research, logistics support, etc.
Our program was enormously impacted by Covid – we stopped all in-person activities in March of 2020, and were only able to restart on an extremely limited scale in March 2022. In spite of this, our program continued to offer classes, run book donation drives, participate in statewide organizing for higher education, advise inside students, and pursue other goals in support of both on-campus and incarcerated students. Usually our interns would be recruited from students who have taken Inside-Out classes and therefore have experiences in the prisons. However, we have few–if any–students who have had those experiences due to the pandemic. We therefore are seeking students who are passionate about this kind of work, will be flexible in a changing work environment, have the emotional maturity to work in difficult spaces, work as a team but also be able to do independent projects, and are able to abide by a range of rules that make our work possible.
We seek people who have experience with leadership but also students who have not yet found their ‘niche’ and are seeking an opportunity to grow and engage in new ways.
Position Description
Interns with the Prison Education Program provide essential support to our projects. The range of tasks varies widely. General areas include:
Time requirements vary depending on current projects and prison schedules. However, we ask students to plan to commit to at least 3 hours per week of pre-scheduled meetings and/or work sessions, and at least another 3 of independent work. If we are able to hold in-person programs again, programs in the prisons will be in addition to this.
You will work most closely with Katie Dwyer, the Program Coordinator, who will help supervise and direct the intern group. The 2022-2023 intern cohort will be 4 or 5 individuals. You will also work with other PEP faculty, formerly incarcerated leaders, and other members of the campus and broader community.
Stipend
We are able to offer interns a $500 stipend per term in partial recognition of their work.
We are proud to announce Prison Education Program’s second visual arts exhibition on University of Oregon’s Campus. The show features over 30 pieces from 15 incarcerated or formerly incarcerated artists. Resonance will be on display in the EMU Adell McMillam Gallery from January 3 — February 4, with a closing reception on February 3 at 6pm. The EMU is open Monday–Friday: 7:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m, Saturday: 8:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m. and Sunday: 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
In addition to the work being on display in the EMU on University of Oregon’s campus, we have compiled the exhibit into this slideshow for those of you who are not local to Eugene.
We will be providing our inside artists with a post-show booklet including photos of their work on display as well as feedback we have collected from the community. Each piece has an individual website linked in the slides . We would appreciate you giving any and all feedback you have. The artists are eager for reactions from the community. Please feel free to share with your friends and family.
Click here to give feedback on the show as a whole.
Resonance Slideshow Surveys (purple theme) (2)
INTRA-COMMUNITY CONFLICT: THE TROUBLES IN NORTHERN IRELAND / GEOG 410 / SHAUL COHEN
In this course, we will explore the roots of the political violence (the Troubles) in Northern Ireland and discuss the role of identity, power, place, and violence in determining the conflict and its transformation into an uncertain peace.
INTERNATIONAL MODELS OF INCARCERATION / CAS 407/507 / KATIE DWYER
In this course, we will examine other countries’ approaches to criminal justice as a counterpoint to US models. We will first explore general comparative models of international criminal justice, including both the opportunities for positive change in the US and the ways that culture and circumstances influence outcomes. We will then focus on particular countries’ successes and explore these models in depth.
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.
WRITING AS CHANGE AGENTS / GEOG 410 / 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.