The Rose that Grew from Concrete: Building a Thriving Social Justice Degree Program Behind Bars

• In Event: 3423 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 12: Teaching Inside-Out and On the Inside: College Classrooms in Prison

Abstract

Offering degree programs inside correctional facilities present a multitude of complexities for academic institutions. In 2016, Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice began offering a Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies to incarcerated students at several New Jersey state prisons. In 2018, several of our students successfully completed the program while in confinement. As the Associate Dean of Academic Programs for the School of Criminal Justice, the administrator of all of the prison education program’s academic functions, and a primary point of contact for the program’s external partners and stakeholders, I will discuss the process of implementing the prison education program at the School of Criminal Justice, as well as the wide range of issues related to adapting courses to the prison classroom while ensuring parity between inside and outside programs and administering a degree program designed to empower students to explore social justice themes in an inherently confined environment. This 45-minute session will also focus on the challenges and opportunities involved in balancing the academic interests of the students and instructional passions of faculty with the security constraints of the Department of Corrections.

Author

• Kenya Tyson, Rutgers University, School of Criminal Justice