An extraordinary portrait of students in the prison system By Jason Gorber The first hour of Lynn Novick’s four-part documentary series College Behind Bars plays out pretty much how one would expect this story to be told. [The four-part work screens in a single feature presentation at the New… Read More
Press Type: Article
NYFF57 review: ‘College Behind Bars’ makes the case for education for all, coming to PBS in November.
This 4 part doc series explores New York State’s college degree program, BPI: Bard Prison Initiative. We follow a group of students as they make their way toward graduation. I say students and not inmates because when they are in class, they are students.… Read More
Documentary to Showcase Education in Prison
The Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference Friday in Washington hosted a panel discussion and preview of a new PBS documentary series that follows incarcerated people who are pursuing college degrees. The four-part series, “College Behind Bars,” was executive produced by Ken Burns and directed… Read More
How maximum security inmates took on Cambridge in a debate about nuclear weapons — and won
The three students from the University of Cambridge, wearing black suits and clutching sheaves of papers, stepped onto the wooden auditorium stage under the warm yellow lights. As members of a storied debate team, they had competed the world over but never in a… Read More
College Behind Bars to Air on PBS in November 2019
New Four-Part Documentary Series by Lynn Novick Follows Prisoners Through Rigorous College Program; Explores How Education Transforms Lives and Impacts Criminal Justice PASADENA, CA; February 1, 2019 — Alfred I. duPont-Columbia and Peabody-Award winning filmmaker Lynn Novick (THE VIETNAM WAR, PROHIBITION, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, THE WAR) has… Read More
Art for Justice Announces Partnership with Acclaimed Los Angeles-Based Artist Mark Bradford
Los Angeles, CA – For the inaugural edition of Frieze Los Angeles, Mark Bradford has created an image of a police body camera isolated on a light-colored background. Entitled Life Size, this significant work comprises the powerful camera image presented on posters around the city, a… Read More
Earning a degree inside Brooklyn’s Central Public Library
Purvis Thompson poses for a portrait at the Brooklyn Public Library after taking an anthropology class offered by Bard College on October 16, 2018. Bard College has opened a micro-college, offering associates degrees earned by attending classes at the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand… Read More
Trapped Bodies, Freed Minds
The Washington Corrections Center for Women is intimidating in its size and structure. Located in Gig Harbor, it is the largest women’s prison in Washington, housing more than 700 women of all security levels from across the state. High chain-link fences wound in wide loops of… Read More
‘Could I make it in college?’: His journey to a bachelor’s degree started behind bars
Six years ago, two prison cellmates became, to their surprise, college roommates. Donte Small was doing time at Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup for assault with a handgun. Sanford Barber was in for involuntary manslaughter. Both were looking constantly to improve themselves. One day, Barber… Read More
Leveraging the Liberal Arts Behind Bars
When eleven uvm undergrads in the course “Justice Studies” arrive for a weekly class meeting, they are required to leave their keys, cellphones, and other personal belongings at the door before walking through a metal detector under the watchful eye of a correctional officer.… Read More