Programs & Projects
Education Justice Project
Education Justice Project
The Education Justice Project (EJP) continues to offer University of Illinois classes
to men incarcerated at Danville Correctional Center, a men’s state penitentiary thirty-five miles east of campus, and to expand its educational offerings at the prison. In 2010-11, in addition to courses such as “The Holocaust in Postwar Memory and Popular Literature,” “History of Race in the United States,” and “Russian Revolution,” EJP sponsored guest lectures, started a math workshop series, and piloted an English as a Second Language program.
One highlight of EJP’s past year was “Higher Education in Prison: Strategies for Action,” a national symposium on correctional higher education that brought together over one hundred prison educators from across the U.S. and Canada. Over three days in October 2010, they attended panels on topics such as funding prison education, program evaluation, and inter-agency collaboration. Participants also sat in on evening courses at Danville prison, where they met with EJP students and shared information about their respective programs. At the last session, EJP agreed to host a prison education listserv that continues to connect symposium participants and a growing number of prison educators, researchers, and activists.
EJP’s plans for the coming year include continuing a feasibility study that explores the possibilities for creating a sustainable, productive landscape at the prison that also serves as educational laboratory (this work is funded in part by the Illinois Department of Commerce), expanding its ESL program, and offering classes from departments across campus, including History, Linguistics, and Theater.
Information about the Education Justice Project can be found online at http://www.educationjustice.net.
