For most incarcerated citizens, prison puts life on hold. You might say that's as it should be. Prison—at least partly—is punishment. But increasingly, policymakers are thinking more seriously about what happens when people get out of prison—and what the best ways are to rehabilitate them, so… Read More
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College Behind Bars Press Kit
For further information about the PBS documentary College Behind Bars, go to Press Kit.
2/19/2020
1/27/2020
The Greatest Threat to the Prison Industrial Complex
In the U.S., the nation with the largest prison population proportional to population in the world, the idea of rehabilitation has long ago gone from being a stated goal to a completely ignored concept. A study which focuses on people released from prisons in 2005 reveals… Read More
1/23/2020
Bennington College approved for prison education initiative
Related Company: Bennington College Vermont Business Magazine Bennington College has received accreditation from the New England Commissions of Higher Education (NECHE) to award a Bennington College Associate of Art degree to incarcerated students through its Prison Education Initiative (PEI). Now in its fifth year, PEI brings Bennington College faculty to Great Meadow… Read More
1/23/2020
Op-Ed – Tuition assistance for inmates will reduce recidivism
By Stacy Burnett Opinon Contributor From 2008 to 2013, I learned 67 uses for state-issued toothpaste. I learned the lights never go out in solitary confinement, and I learned my son was calling a complete stranger "Mom." While I realized education was the best way to straighten… Read More
1/10/2020
How Jule Hall, Graduate of the Bard Prison Initiative, Spends His Sundays
After serving 22 years in prison, he is making up for lost time, with a job at the Ford Foundation, good coffee and a long soak in the tub. By Ted Alcorn Few people know the joy of a free Sunday like Jule Hall. For 22… Read More
12/19/2019
How A Liberal Arts Education Helps Felons Become ‘Civic Beings’
By Emily Chamlee-Wright Later this month, professors Chris Surprenant (University of New Orleans) and Jason Brennan (Georgetown University) will release their new book on mass incarceration, Injustice for All: How Financial Incentives Corrupted and Can Fix the U.S. Criminal Justice System. The numbers, Surprenant reminded me in… Read More
12/11/2019
Prisoners can read Shakespeare, too
Student Shawnta Montgomery spoke inspiring words at her graduation ceremony: "Inside the walls of a classroom, you escape the walls of a cell — and you become an individual again." Montgomery was graduating from the Bard Prison Initiative program, featured in the new PBS and… Read More
12/9/2019
What Happens When Incarcerated People Get a World-Class Education?
One graduate, featured in a new PBS documentary, shares the ups and downs of earning a degree behind bars. In the fall of 2015, a maximum-security prison in New York invited Harvard’s debate team to compete against a squad of three incarcerated men. The men,… Read More
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