Literacies & Incarceration

This interdisciplinary course critically examines the literacy identities, practices and initiatives of diverse incarcerated and post-incarcerated populations as well as those populations at risk for incarceration in the US penal system. Students will engage with scholarship, artifacts, personal narratives and testimonials, evaluating and analyzing debates and depictions of prison literacy policy and programs, including in various media. Furthermore, students will consider the design, implementation, and effectiveness of varied prison literacy initiatives and programs that target incarcerated and post-incarcerated populations. Students will also reflect on the impact of incarcerated individuals' literacy identities and practices in connection with their families and the immediate and the broader communities of which they are part.

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