Why Education in Prison Matters


view of buildings at MCI-ShirleyTufts’ new college-in-prison program is hosting a two-day symposium, Prison and Education: The Responsibility of Engagement, on February 1 and 2.

It will include speakers who are graduates of college-in-prison programs, representatives from prisoner advocacy organizations, including formerly incarcerated people. The event, the first of its kind at Tufts, is free and open to the public.

The symposium, which seeks to bring knowledge of prison and education issues to a wider audience, is part of the Tufts University Prison Initiative at Tisch College, which includes a new undergraduate course at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute (MCI) in Shirley, Massachusetts. Hilary Binda, AG03, founding director of the program, last fall brought ten undergraduates to the medium-security prison, where they discussed literature with ten incarcerated men, who earned college credit for the class. The course is being offered again this semester.

Source : TUFTS