In Print
Letter to the Editor – Harvard Magazine
May-June 2013
BPI Distinguished Fellow Ellen Lagemann’s letter to the editor, published in the May-June 2013 issue, in response to the article “America’s Prison Problem.”What Can College Mean? Lessons from the Bard Prison Initiative
November-December 2011
An article that Ellen Lagemann, BPI Distinguished Fellow, wrote in 2011, which has been published in Change Magazine and the Spring 2012 Bardian.Uncaptive Minds
February 20, 2005
Ian Buruma reflects on his experience teaching Japanese history to BPI students at Eastern Correctional Facility.Carlos Rosado Earns Bachelor’s Degree, Plants Garden All While Serving Time
May 18, 2010
ABC News writer Emily Friedman profiles BPI alumnus Carlos Rosado following his release from Woodbourne Correctional Facility and subsequent graduation on the Bard College campus.Doing Time, With a Degree to Show for It
November 28, 2010
Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, former Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University and Distinguished Fellow of the Bard Prison Initiative, discusses her experience teaching for BPI and makes the case for providing college education to prisoners.For the Love of Learning
March 18, 2009
Bard College president Leon Botstein writes about BPI’s 2009 commencement ceremony at Eastern Correctional Facility, reflecting upon the irony that the liberal arts tradition of learning for its own sake, beleaguered in other arenas, thrives within the prison.Out of the Ashes: The Rise of the Bard Prison Initiative
Rand Review, Summer 2008
A summary of a talk given by Max Kenner before a RAND Corporation audience in 2008. The Review considers the effects in New York State of the federal government’s 1994 decision to withdraw public support for college prison programs, which was followed by a dramatic rise in state spending on corrections.Earning College Degrees Behind Bars
December 30, 2009
Beth Schwartzapfel reports on Bard College Professor Emeritus John Fout’s class “Nazi Germany and the Holocaust” at Woodbourne Correctional Facility.Bar None
Colby Magazine
An interview with Professor Craig Jude, discussing his teaching physiology for the Bard Prison Initiative and his impressions of students at Woodbourne Correctional Facility.The Bard Prison Initiative
Stefan Falke’s Eye: A Photo Blog, December 11, 2010
Photographer and blogger Stefan Falke writes about a BPI student who co-founded BPI’s organic community garden. The interview and photographs first appeared in the German DIE ZEIT. This blog provides a summary of the article along with a selection of photos.Give Prisoners the Gift of a Whitman Education
The Pioneer, October 7, 2010
A student at Whitman College, a liberal arts college in the State of Washington, writes about BPI and argues for the development of a similar college-in-prison program at Whitman.Bard College’s Prison Initiative: Organic Food Politics!
Wellsphere, June 16, 2010
Dr. Marion Nestle blogs about accepting the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service and discusses BPI, her commencement address to the graduates, and BPI’s community garden at Woodbourne.Marion Nestle Receives John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service from Bard Prison Initiative
At A Glance, News from the NYU Steinhardt Community, June 10, 2010
NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development offers a weblog on Dr. Marion Nestle’s acceptance of the John Dewey award and her commencement address at BPI’s 2010 graduation ceremony at Woodbourne Correctional Facility.Locked Out of Higher Education
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, March 3, 2010
Garry Boulard writes about the current state of higher education in prisons and discusses BPI’s sister program at Wesleyan University, a partner in the national Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison.The Bard Prison Initiative
The Decembrist, February 22, 2005
On his weblog, political scientist and author Mark Schmitt comments on Ian Buruma’s feature in The New York Times Magazine.Making the Most out of Time Served: The Fate of Prison Education Programs
December 2009
New York University’s News & Documentary graduate program looks at the history of college-in-prison programs in New York State and focuses on Bard’s program at Bayview Correctional Facility.Bayview Women Receive Bard College Degrees
Counterbalance, National Association of Women Judges Newsletter, Fall 2009
Max Kenner describes BPI’s program for women at the Bayview Correctional Facility, the withdrawal of federal funding for college-in-prison programs, the founding of BPI, and the way in which women at Bayview collaborated with judges and other professional women in Manhattan to restore college to Bayview.Liberal Arts, Behind Bars
Inside Higher Ed, June 10, 2009
Kate Maternowski comments on the state of prison educational programming in the United States and the debut of BPI’s sister program at Wesleyan University, a partner in the national Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison.Educating Inmates
The Portland Phoenix, February 6, 2008
A report on Max Kenner’s address to students, faculty, and staff at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, as Bates considers opening a college-in-prison program of its own.A Dozen Amazing College Students
The Decembrist, December 5, 2003
Political scientist, author, and blogger Mark Schmitt writes about his visit to a "Civics" seminar at Eastern Correctional Facility, at which he was a guest lecturer.Education Transforms Lives
Poughkeepsie Journal, November 27, 2006
Michael Woyton reports on the impact of a college education on incarcerated people released from prison, their relationships with family members, and their prospects for employment. Woyton interviews Glenn Martin, then of the NYC-based HIRE Network, and Daniel Karpowitz, BPI Director of Policy and Academics.Prisoners Get a Chance To Turn Their Lives Around
Poughkeepsie Journal, November 26, 2006
Journalist Michael Woyton surveys BPI.Links to audio excerpts of Woynton’s interviews with four BPI students are available on the webpage.