We will have two Inside-Out classes in Winter 2024, applications due Monday, November 13th. Submit your application via Google form here. There is an optional informational session with the Prison Education Program coordinator and recent Inside-Out students in Room...
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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.
Winter 2024 Inside Out Courses
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New Series of PEP TV
This week PEP TV Season 5 is being sent out to the 12 prisons in the Oregon state prison system. PEP TV compiles recorded guest lecturers, tutorials, and faculty talks on a broad range of subjects and sends these to all Oregon prisons to be shown on their TV channels....
Shawn McWeeney in the Eugene Weekly
It’s fabulous to see a familiar face on the cover of the Eugene Weekly! Congratulations to Shawn, who was a leader in our program, a “double duck,” and an asset to the community. Read here:...
Start of a New Year at the Prison Education Program
Another year is off to a start at the Prison Education Program! This year the PEP is excited to have its largest group of interns it has ever had–a whopping 14 in total to help us tackle our many projects and programs. To kick off the school year, our intern and...
Entrepreneurship Workshop Series Held at Coffee Creek
Our program has hoped to expand our offerings of business classes and workshops for years. Entrepreneurship is particularly valuable for people who are incarcerated, as self-employment is a way to avoid barriers in the job market and is a way to utilize people’s...
Communication Workshop at OSCI
Not-for-credit workshops have been part of our program offerings for years, but they have been slow to restart since the pandemic. We are delighted, therefore, to have been invited by two OSCI groups – New Horizons and the Asian Club – to hold a two-part...
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.
