The Past and Future of Prison Education at Harvard
Tuesday, March 6, 6-8pm

Sanders Theatre

This capstone event will highlight eight panelists with experiences on all sides of a range of prison education programs to discuss the impact of these programs on their lives. The panel includes pairs of students and practitioners who have built and sustained prison education programs ranging from college courses in Massachusetts and New York prisons to community racial justice reading groups in Oregon. Half of the panelists are formerly-incarcerated and many earned degrees while behind bars. Others have helped to teach and build these programs and now work with post-incarcerated people to better address their specific needs. The panel will testify to the range, scope, and depth of prison education and its capacity to address the epidemic of mass incarceration by bringing representatives of the most innovative and dynamic programs in the country. It will consider the work that has been done at Harvard, what we can draw inspiration from, and where we can go from here. 

At this presentation we will also be unveiling a historical report and 15-minute documentary film on the history of prison education at Harvard.

Panelists:

Dr. Steven Hahn, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian, New York University, Prison Education Program
Jose Diaz, New York University Prison Education Program
Paul Henry Grice, III, Liberation Literacy
Dr. Garrett Felber, University of Mississippi, Liberation Literacy
Dr. Kaia Stern, Harvard University, Prison Studies Project
Catherine Sirois, Harvard College Alumni, currently at Stanford University, Prison Studies Project
Michelle Jones, New York University, Indiana Women’s Prison Higher Education Program
Darren Mack, The Center for Justice at Columbia University, Just Leadership USA, Bard Prison Initiative