# data[].attributes.body
Restaurant in Turin, Italy run by those incarcerated

Norway Bastoy Prison

Utopia Papalotl - Mexico

APAC - No police - Brazil

# data[].attributes.body
Do we offer enough books in different languages? How about our courses?

# data[].attributes.body
Other jails seem to offer classes taught by officers - we have instructors with college affiliation and credibility

A lot of programs are offered federally, but few provincially - we have found a way forward even though provincial jails are usually overlooked

# data[].attributes.body
Monologues - so powerful!

# data[].attributes.headline
Instead of "Inmates" -> People deprived of liberty

# data[].attributes.subject
Instead of "Inmates" -> People deprived of liberty

# data[].attributes.body
It's not about improvement but about affecting the future, positively affecting self-esteem, and inspiring hope.

# data[].attributes.body
Access to information very important - we have a great library program that does a lot with this already - Case Law Requests (do all our learners know this is something we offer)

Also - very interesting to learn about the one-to-one tablet pilots in the states where the tablets aren't pay to use. ( I think it was the San Francisco public library providing tablets inside jails: https://sfpl.org/services/jail-and-reentry-services

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jail and Reentry Services (JARS) | San Francisco Public Library

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Since 2018, SFPL’s Jail and Reentry Services program has been providing dedicated library service to incarcerated adults. Through a partnership with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, JARS offers in-jail library service. JARS librarians also provide reference by mail and reentry support, and have been serving youth at the Juvenile Justice Center for almost 20 years.

# data[].attributes.body
Great place to read about research into what is happening in jails and prisons in the US

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
People in prison face numerous obstacles that prevent them from obtaining a quality postsecondary education—from a lack of academic materials, library People in prison face numerous obstacles that prevent them from obtaining a quality postsecondary education. Learn how we’re supporting the advancement of equitable and high-quality education in prisons and jails.

# data[].attributes.body
This is the first conference of this kind - and looks really cool.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
October 29-30, 2024: This virtual conference will feature currently incarcerated scholars who will share their insights on the value, methods, and future of higher education in prison. This year’s theme, Vital Voices and Visions: Insights on Higher Education in Prison, reflects on the importance of centering incarcerated students in the shaping of our field.

# data[].attributes.body
Great resource to see what is happening in the US

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison (Alliance) is a national network supporting the growth of quality higher education for currently and formerly incarcerated people.

# data[].attributes.body
Interesting to see what other provincial correctional institutions are doing with art. This program publishes art online using initials only so that loved ones can see their art.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Artlibre.cafe
Une idée, un gesteUn dessin, un texteÊtre fier de moiRéussir, sortir, me redéfinir

# data[].attributes.body
Cool initiative in the states to connect artists involved in the justice system

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Justice Arts Coalition - A national network and resource for creating art in prisons and jails

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
pARTner Project is Inspiring New Creativity - Justice Arts Coalition

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As part of GivingTuesday, we’re spotlighting Vivian Bauer, an artist and linguist, sharing her experience as a pARTner penpal and the impact that building meaningful connections over a shared love of art has had on her life. Please click here to donate to Justice Arts Coalition and support work that brings artists and art lovers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We're thrilled to announce that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), through its Research and Development Program, has granted funding to a new Ithaka S+R project to explore how the stories of people who are justice impacted can best be preserved and develop strategies to make these first-hand experiences of mass incarceration accessible.

In partnership with the Justice Arts Coalition (JAC), "Preserving Their Stories" will explore how creative works generated by people in prison circulate beyond prison walls, investigate the types of organizations that collect and receive materials created by people in prison, and document the training and resource needs these organizations require to preserve such materials and make them accessible.

A pressing need for documentation

Almost half of all Americans have experienced incarceration within their families, making apparent that the impacts of the criminal legal system expand far beyond those currently in prison. Yet mass incarceration in many ways remains invisible in the archival record and national memory. Prisons physically isolate the people inside their facilities from the outside world, and even following reentry, the stigma attached to incarceration continues to suppress the documentation and sharing of experiences.

Bringing light to the first-hand experiences of people in prison could play a valuable role in de-stigmatizing incarceration and making progress toward necessary reforms. There is therefore an urgent need to preserve and increase access to the creative works documenting mass incarceration by those directly impacted.

The "Preserving Their Stories" project seeks first to understand how works created by people in prison-stories, essays, theater productions, visual arts, etc.-circulate beyond the prison and second, to determine how they might be ethically collected and preserved.

Steps toward preservation

While a handful of initiatives have recently begun to collect materials created by people impacted by incarceration, anecdotal evidence suggests that incarcerated artists and writers frequently entrust their work to grass roots organizations and volunteers in prison arts programs, books to prisons programs, and higher education in prison programs. Because these organizations are not traditional "memory institutions," they face specific challenges in preserving the materials placed in their care and, as a result, creative works are often left to languish in boxes and volunteers' basements.

Ithaka S+R will build relationships with these organizations and explore the preservation and access challenges they face. Through this project we will also document the training and resources that could help these non-traditional memory institutions better meet those challenges. These findings will be published in an issue brief on the Ithaka S+R site.

Building partnerships

The core work of this project will be connecting with organizations that receive and care for materials created by people in prison. We are especially interested in the needs, challenges, and solutions found among books to prisons programs, prison arts programs, and higher education in prison programs, though are open to other relevant organizations. We will also seek to connect with creators who are currently or formerly incarcerated. The research will be conducted through semi-structured interviews, and we are interested in gathering perspectives on a variety of related issues including preservation and conservation, ethical stewardship, digitization, partnerships, and public outreach. In the latter stages of the project we will host a focus group to workshop solutions and concept test potential interventions. If you or your organization would be interested in participating in the project, please contact Kurtis Tanaka at kurtis.tanaka@ithaka.org.

Looking ahead

It is our hope that the evidence collected and relationships built during this project will lead to broad impacts at the local and national levels:

Community organizations will be better able to care for materials entrusted to them

Access to and dissemination of works created by incarcerated individuals will lead to more nuanced conversation about the nature and role of incarceration in American life

Humanities scholars will benefit from a much enriched pool of resources that document fist-hand experiences with mass incarceration

Finally and most importantly, this project seeks to center the voices and narratives of those who have experienced incarceration in humanistic inquiry and public discourse.

Through this project we will conduct the research, learning, and relationship building needed to inform future development and implementation work. Our larger vision is to build on this foundation to develop training and resources for community organizations that are collecting materials from people in prison.
We thank the National Endowment for the Humanities for their funding of this project. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this blog post, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Learn more at https://www.neh.gov/.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Preserving Their Stories: Archiving Mass Incarceration - Ithaka S+R

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We're thrilled to announce that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), through its Research and Development Program, has granted funding to a

# data[].attributes.body
I liked the metaphor that Marisa Belausteguigoitia used in her presentation of working outside the wound rather than inside the wound. I think this speaks to a trauma-informed approach which is something that we aim for.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Murals and Mirrors: Imprisoned Women and the Politics of Belonging

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is the story of an uprising of women inside a Mexican prison to take over the prison walls. It is a story of the uprising of a gaze and the rising of a voice. It is a story of how women in prison came together and transformed a territory of punishment and…

# data[].attributes.body
similar demographics in Canadian prisons as other countries. e.g. poorly educated

U.S. highest incarceration rate in world and Norway the lowest

simulating prison as similar to outside civilian life is key to reducing recidivism, as done in Norway

# data[].attributes.body
What can we (leadership) to do support you to prevent burnout?

# data[].attributes.body
The role of adult education is to enable inclusion!

Social

Physical

Economical

Political

# data[].attributes.body
Prison Education is a right, not something that can be removed.

Rule 104: Provision shall be made for the further education of all prisoners

Rule 105: Recreational and cultural activities shall be provided in all prisons for the benefit of mental and physical health

# data[].attributes.body
" If you want to know where a society is failing look at the prison system it is magnified there"

The institutions that Kristina mentions (APAC - Brazil) that have different models are interesting

Alternatively (for maybe longer classes) creating a collective agreement on the rules and on the way things will be handled for the classroom instead of having only our rules

Different views of approaching trauma (trying to be wound adjacent- not directly in the wound)

Finding/creating career pathways that are possible with criminal record, we seem to be very strict in Canada on this.

# data[].attributes.body
This is an infomercial that was shared by Adelle Sefton-Rowston from Australia. She presented "Beauty in Negative Spaces". It was interesting hearing about art activities she used to bring beauty into jails.

Ex) Asking students to imagine a dark, concreate, hard wall. How would they trasnform it into something opposite. Then ask students to create a word map of different descriptive words on what makes Beauty to them. Finally, ask students how they would take their beauty and put it onto a canvas to share.

BEAUTY can be a story - Kissing their babies goodnight.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hot Brown Honey: #DecoloniseAndMoisturise - 80's Infomercial Remix

# data[].attributes.body
"Indigenous incarceration is not the result of a colonial past but rather a part of the colonial process itself"

- Niki Chartrand

# data[].attributes.body
Create prison-less places (spaces) within the jail to show how useful the programs are to create/encourage humanity. This can be more of a frame of mind.

One of the tasks of an educator is to encourage hope

Can we go from total institution to social OR from pedagogy of oppression to HOPE?

# data[].attributes.body
In the United States, statistics show that, with a 4 year degree, recidivism is cut down to 96%, and the remaining 4% is due to breaches of conditions and other non-criminal acts. Education is freedom!

# data[].attributes.headline
Have the audacity to keep pushing officials for advancements in corrections education programs.

# data[].attributes.subject
Have the audacity to keep pushing officials for advancements in corrections education programs.

# data[].attributes.body
It may not seem like change can be made right now, but we need to keep pushing and don't get discouraged. As leadership changes and as the times change, people may be more receptive to your requests. Remember too that we are not trying to sell a false product but one of the best, smartest, and most meaningful products and investments that can be purchased with government funds. It's an investment that will give our students hope and save the government money.

It makes ethical and financial sense.