"A Place Where They Can Have Hope": Supporting Campus Spaces for Formerly Incarcerated College Students

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Dismantling Oppression in Higher Education (Table 10)

Abstract

Given the extreme reach of the carceral system, the most consequential educational research topic today is supporting formerly incarcerated students moving out of prisons or jails and into post-secondary institutions. One critical component to this is to consider campus spaces and counterspaces. Drawing from critical geography and counterspace frameworks, this paper explores how formerly incarcerated college students narrated their experiences of different campus spaces. Importantly, this research was conducted during COVID-19 and campus closures, which offered unique reflections on distant and inaccessible spaces. This moment is particularly rich to radically reimagine the allotment of campus spaces for students, particularly for those who have been relegated to the margins.

Author

• Kylie A. Kenner, University of California - Santa Cruz
  Presenting Author