BRINGING HIGHER EDUCATION
INTO PRISONS
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project is nonprofit and relies on donations to perform its work. Your tax-deductible contribution can do big things.
BRINGING HIGHER EDUCATION
INTO PRISONS
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project is nonprofit and relies on donations to perform its work. Your tax-deductible contribution can do big things.
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project (GSUPEP) began in 2016 through a partnership with Common Good Atlanta at Phillips State Prison in Buford, Ga. A Perimeter College faculty member taught an English Composition I class to a cohort of 15 students serving time within the prison. The students were granted admission to the college and were expected to meet the same course objectives as in other Perimeter College classes. Students who successfully completed the course earned Perimeter College credit.
GSUPEP now is working to develop partnerships with other nonprofit groups, such as Reforming Arts, to bring a full associate degree program to women incarcerated at Lee-Arrendale State Prison in Alto, Ga. The project also is providing pre-college classes at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta and the Atlanta Transition Center.
The prison education project’s success, in part, depends upon its efforts to train college instructors to work in the prison setting. Project staff also coordinate events in colleges and area businesses to raise awareness about prison reform and reentry and gather books and supporting materials for instruction inside prisons.
GSUPEP is committed to education in prisons and will work to:
- Increase the number of incarcerated students and facilities we serve.
- Engage on-campus students and provide them learning experiences by arranging academic exchanges between classrooms within prisons and those on traditional campuses.
- Offer guidance to incarcerated students to help them continue their education after they are released from prisons.
Please contact Katherine Perry if you are interested in learning more, booking a speaker for an event, or donating books or supplies.
The following chart, based on data from the World Prison Brief at the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck, University of London, and the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), shows the rate of incarceration for selected countries around the world, as well as for individual states in the United States. The numbers are per 100,000 people. Georgia’s incarceration rate is 503 per 100,000 people.
“Participation in correctional education programs is associated with a 13 percentage-point reduction in the risk of reincarceration three years following release.”
“On average, inmates who participated in correctional education programs had 43 percent lower odds of recidivating than inmates who did not.”
“We found that providing correctional education to prisoners is cost-effective compared with the direct costs of reincarceration. We also note that the results are likely to be conservative, because they do not include the indirect costs of reincarceration.”
— “How Effective is Correctional Education?,” RAND Corp. Research Report 2014
Information About Incarceration and Related Topics:
- Almost 2.2 million people were incarcerated in the United States in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
- Another 4.6 million people in the United States were on probation or parole in 2015, according to the Bureau of Justice.
- According to the Georgia Department of Corrections 2016 Annual Report, Georgia housed 54,026 inmates. The report said 95 percent of the inmates will reenter society.
- Georgia released 18,131 people from incarceration in 2016, according to the state report.
- Nationally, 40 percent of inmates released will be reincarcerated within three years, according to a RAND Corporation report
LINKS to Other Prison Education Programs
FAQs
What is the Georgia State University Prison Education Project?
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project (GSUPEP) is a service of Perimeter College that provides college education to incarcerated people in Georgia, assists formerly incarcerated people in reentering society, and educates our on-campus student population about incarceration and criminal justice.
When and how did the project begin?
Many of the staff members of GSUPEP have been teaching in prisons for years. We banded together in the spring of 2016 and proposed a project to our administration that summer. In the fall of 2016, GSUPEP began. We offered our first for-credit course at Phillips State Prison for men through a partnership with Common Good Atlanta in the spring of 2017.
What facilities do you serve?
Currently we work with four facilities:
- Phillips State Prison (for men)
- Lee Arrendale State Prison (for women)
- Atlanta’s United States Penitentiary (for men)
- Atlanta Transitional Center (for men)
If you would like programming in your facility, please contact us.
Who can participate?
Students in the for-credit prison classes must be incarcerated in a Georgia prison, must meet their warden’s requirements for educational participation, must pass the Accuplacer exam and must be admitted to the college. Wardens set different requirements for participation, but most require a length of time without disciplinary problems to participate. Students must have a GED or high school diploma and must meet most of the same requirements as college students in traditional settings. Most classes contain 15-20 students.
Who teaches in the program?
GSUPEP courses are staffed with Perimeter College professors. Per Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), all instructors are required to be qualified to teach college courses, and all instructors teach in their areas of specialty. All instructors are paid employees of Perimeter College.
What kind of training is required for professors?
Teaching in a prison is an emotionally and physically taxing enterprise. To prepare our teachers, we require several levels of training. All professors must complete the necessary volunteer training for their facility (three to four hours per year) in which they learn the process of entering and leaving prisons, legal obligations and restrictions on them while in the prisons and what to do in cases of emergency. These training sessions are run through the Georgia Department of Corrections or the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition, GSUPEP requires faculty to take a training session we lead at Perimeter College. This training focuses on issues of pedagogy, adapting classes for non-tech classrooms, accommodating special needs and power dynamics in a prison setting. In addition, we keep in close contact with our faculty during the semester to support them and help them manage any issues that arise.
Does GSUPEP offer degrees?
Yes. Our students are admitted as degree-seeking students. Should they be released before they finish their degree, we encourage them to continue their education on one of our five campuses in the Atlanta area (Alpharetta, Clarkston, Decatur, Dunwoody or Newton) or through our Online Campus.
How is GSUPEP funded? How is money spent?
GSUPEP is funded through private donations and grants. While Perimeter College has the most affordable tuition in the state of Georgia, it still costs approximately $7,500 for a student to earn an associate degree from Perimeter College, even while attending full time. Almost all of our donations are spent on tuition, books and other fees associated with college education.
How can I get involved?
Donating to our program helps us to serve more students. Click on the Give tab above to find out how far your donation can go.
GSUPEP also accepts book donations to help build libraries at the facilities. We especially welcome publisher donations of textbooks. Please contact us to set up a drop-off or pickup of books.
If you are interested in teaching, you must be available to be hired as an adjunct teacher by Perimeter College and must hold accredited degrees in the subject area you would like to teach. We give teaching preference to our current professors, but always welcome a new face.
Dr. Peter Lindsay
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Science
Georgia State University, Atlanta Campus
plindsay2@gsu.edu
404-413-6177
Marissa McNamara
Associate Professor of English
Clarkston Campus
mmcnamara@gsu.edu
678-891-3726
Dr. Katherine D. Perry
Associate Professor of English
Decatur Campus
kperry1@gsu.edu
678-891-2778
Dr. Andy Rogers
Interim Associate Department Chair of English
Decatur Campus
arogers41@gsu.edu
770-274-5476
Links
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project offers a variety of opportunities for involvement.
- We accept donations to the program through the Perimeter College Foundation. All donations are tax-deductible. Donations go to help cover the costs of student tuition, books, fees, supplies and faculty travel to prisons and conferences. Our account is GSU Prison Initiative Fund, (Number 021175).
- Previously incarcerated individuals can serve as mentors for current students, speakers for campus events, tutors or liaisons with the university. We also accept submissions from previously incarcerated people to 180 Journal, which publishes the literary and artistic work from currently and previously incarcerated people.
- Georgia State University Perimeter faculty can work with the program in several ways:
- For-credit classes may be taught in the faculty’s normal teaching load. The courses would follow traditional syllabi, course outcomes and testing requirements.
- Enrichment courses may be taught on a volunteer basis. While enrichment courses must fall within faculty specialty areas, these courses can be more creative in scope, interdisciplinary and team-taught. They also can vary in length.
- Tutoring opportunities are available at almost all facilities. We can use tutors in any subject area, but math and writing are our most critical needs. At this point, we still mostly are using volunteer tutors.
- GSUPEP has a working committee, which is always accepting new members, The committee helps build curriculum, organize events, direct internship and service-learning programs and aid the GSUPEP coordinators.
- Other USG employees, including Georgia State Atlanta Campus faculty, can teach in several ways:
- For-credit classes may be taught, but they must be volunteer or taught as an overload and paid at the Perimeter College adjunct rate.
- Enrichment courses may be taught on a volunteer basis. While enrichment courses must fall within faculty specialty areas, these courses can be more creative in scope, interdisciplinary and team-taught. They also may vary in length.
- Tutoring opportunities are available at almost all facilities. We can use tutors in any subject area, but math and writing are our most critical needs. At this point, we still mostly are using volunteer tutors.
- Faculty from non-USG schools can be hired as adjunct faculty to teach for-credit courses, and they must complete the full Human Resources hiring package and be hired by the appropriate department chair in their discipline. Faculty from non-USG schools are always welcomed as volunteers to teach enrichment courses or to tutor students for test preparation and for supporting our classes.
- Students at the undergraduate and graduate levels in any discipline can complete their internships, service learning projects or volunteer hours with us because we are a non-profit organization.
- We accept volunteer workers as teachers, grant writers, library donation organizers, event organizers and office workers.
- We accept book donations for prison libraries.
- GSUPEP has a new online journal, 180 Journal, which is accepting volunteers to read, edit, and design. The journal publishes literary and artistic work from currently or previously incarcerated individuals.
- Everyone can follow us on Facebook, at GSU Prison Education Project.
- Everyone can spread the news to friends and family about the good work of prison education.
How Your Donations Can Help
To contribute to the Prison Education Project, go to the Perimeter College Giving web page (you may click on the blue “Give Now” button below). Once you arrive on the Perimeter College Giving page, click “Give Now.” Under “Find My Fund,” type in “GSU Prison Initiative Fund” and select “Perimeter College” as the category. A link to the fund page will appear. Click on the link and you will see options for giving.
For more information, please email Dr. Katherine D. Perry or call 678-891-2778.
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project is nonprofit and relies on donations to perform its work. Your tax-deductible contribution can do big things.
- $10,000 pays for one student to complete an associate degree.
- $5,000 pays for admission, testing, a single course and books for a class of 15 students.
- $1,000 pays for a full set of textbooks for one class for one semester.
- $500 pays for faculty stipends to travel to prisons.
- $100 pays for school supplies for one class.
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project (GSUPEP) began in 2016 through a partnership with Common Good Atlanta at Phillips State Prison in Buford, Ga. A Perimeter College faculty member taught an English Composition I class to a cohort of 15 students serving time within the prison. The students were granted admission to the college and were expected to meet the same course objectives as in other Perimeter College classes. Students who successfully completed the course earned Perimeter College credit.
GSUPEP now is working to develop partnerships with other nonprofit groups, such as Reforming Arts, to bring a full associate degree program to women incarcerated at Lee-Arrendale State Prison in Alto, Ga. The project also is providing pre-college classes at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta and the Atlanta Transition Center.
The prison education project’s success, in part, depends upon its efforts to train college instructors to work in the prison setting. Project staff also coordinate events in colleges and area businesses to raise awareness about prison reform and reentry and gather books and supporting materials for instruction inside prisons.
GSUPEP is committed to education in prisons and will work to:
- Increase the number of incarcerated students and facilities we serve.
- Engage on-campus students and provide them learning experiences by arranging academic exchanges between classrooms within prisons and those on traditional campuses.
- Offer guidance to incarcerated students to help them continue their education after they are released from prisons.
Please contact Katherine Perry if you are interested in learning more, booking a speaker for an event, or donating books or supplies.
The following chart, based on data from the World Prison Brief at the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck, University of London, and the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), shows the rate of incarceration for selected countries around the world, as well as for individual states in the United States. The numbers are per 100,000 people. Georgia’s incarceration rate is 503 per 100,000 people.
“Participation in correctional education programs is associated with a 13 percentage-point reduction in the risk of reincarceration three years following release.”
“On average, inmates who participated in correctional education programs had 43 percent lower odds of recidivating than inmates who did not.”
“We found that providing correctional education to prisoners is cost-effective compared with the direct costs of reincarceration. We also note that the results are likely to be conservative, because they do not include the indirect costs of reincarceration.”
— “How Effective is Correctional Education?,” RAND Corp. Research Report 2014
Information About Incarceration and Related Topics:
- Almost 2.2 million people were incarcerated in the United States in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
- Another 4.6 million people in the United States were on probation or parole in 2015, according to the Bureau of Justice.
- According to the Georgia Department of Corrections 2016 Annual Report, Georgia housed 54,026 inmates. The report said 95 percent of the inmates will reenter society.
- Georgia released 18,131 people from incarceration in 2016, according to the state report.
- Nationally, 40 percent of inmates released will be reincarcerated within three years, according to a RAND Corporation report
LINKS to Other Prison Education Programs
FAQs
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project (GSUPEP) is a service of Perimeter College that provides college education to incarcerated people in Georgia, assists formerly incarcerated people in reentering society, and educates our on-campus student population about incarceration and criminal justice.
When and how did the project begin?
Many of the staff members of GSUPEP have been teaching in prisons for years. We banded together in the spring of 2016 and proposed a project to our administration that summer. In the fall of 2016, GSUPEP began. We offered our first for-credit course at Phillips State Prison for men through a partnership with Common Good Atlanta in the spring of 2017.
Currently we work with four facilities:
- Phillips State Prison (for men)
- Lee Arrendale State Prison (for women)
- Atlanta’s United States Penitentiary (for men)
- Atlanta Transitional Center (for men)
If you would like programming in your facility, please contact us.
Students in the for-credit prison classes must be incarcerated in a Georgia prison, must meet their warden’s requirements for educational participation, must pass the Accuplacer exam and must be admitted to the college. Wardens set different requirements for participation, but most require a length of time without disciplinary problems to participate. Students must have a GED or high school diploma and must meet most of the same requirements as college students in traditional settings. Most classes contain 15-20 students.
Who teaches in the program?
GSUPEP courses are staffed with Perimeter College professors. Per Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), all instructors are required to be qualified to teach college courses, and all instructors teach in their areas of specialty. All instructors are paid employees of Perimeter College.
Teaching in a prison is an emotionally and physically taxing enterprise. To prepare our teachers, we require several levels of training. All professors must complete the necessary volunteer training for their facility (three to four hours per year) in which they learn the process of entering and leaving prisons, legal obligations and restrictions on them while in the prisons and what to do in cases of emergency. These training sessions are run through the Georgia Department of Corrections or the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition, GSUPEP requires faculty to take a training session we lead at Perimeter College. This training focuses on issues of pedagogy, adapting classes for non-tech classrooms, accommodating special needs and power dynamics in a prison setting. In addition, we keep in close contact with our faculty during the semester to support them and help them manage any issues that arise.
Yes. Our students are admitted as degree-seeking students. Should they be released before they finish their degree, we encourage them to continue their education on one of our five campuses in the Atlanta area (Alpharetta, Clarkston, Decatur, Dunwoody or Newton) or through our Online Campus.
GSUPEP is funded through private donations and grants. While Perimeter College has the most affordable tuition in the state of Georgia, it still costs approximately $7,500 for a student to earn an associate degree from Perimeter College, even while attending full time. Almost all of our donations are spent on tuition, books and other fees associated with college education.
Donating to our program helps us to serve more students. Click on the Give tab above to find out how far your donation can go.
GSUPEP also accepts book donations to help build libraries at the facilities. We especially welcome publisher donations of textbooks. Please contact us to set up a drop-off or pickup of books.
If you are interested in teaching, you must be available to be hired as an adjunct teacher by Perimeter College and must hold accredited degrees in the subject area you would like to teach. We give teaching preference to our current professors, but always welcome a new face.
Dr. Katherine D. Perry
Associate Professor of English
Decatur Campus
kperry1@gsu.edu
678-891-2580
Dr. Andy Rogers
Interim Associate Department Chair of English
Decatur Campus
arogers41@gsu.edu
770-274-5476
Marissa McNamara
Associate Professor of English
Clarkston Campus
mmcnamara@gsu.edu
678-891-3726
Dr. Peter Lindsay
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Science
Georgia State University, Atlanta Campus
plindsay2@gsu.edu
404-413-6177
Links
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project offers a variety of opportunities for involvement.
- We accept donations to the program through the Perimeter College Foundation. All donations are tax-deductible. Donations go to help cover the costs of student tuition, books, fees, supplies and faculty travel to prisons and conferences. Our account is GSU Prison Initiative Fund, (Number 021175).
- Previously incarcerated individuals can serve as mentors for current students, speakers for campus events, tutors or liaisons with the university. We also accept submissions from previously incarcerated people to 180 Journal, which publishes the literary and artistic work from currently and previously incarcerated people.
- Georgia State University Perimeter faculty can work with the program in several ways:
- For-credit classes may be taught in the faculty’s normal teaching load. The courses would follow traditional syllabi, course outcomes and testing requirements.
- Enrichment courses may be taught on a volunteer basis. While enrichment courses must fall within faculty specialty areas, these courses can be more creative in scope, interdisciplinary and team-taught. They also can vary in length.
- Tutoring opportunities are available at almost all facilities. We can use tutors in any subject area, but math and writing are our most critical needs. At this point, we still mostly are using volunteer tutors.
- GSUPEP has a working committee, which is always accepting new members, The committee helps build curriculum, organize events, direct internship and service-learning programs and aid the GSUPEP coordinators.
- Other USG employees, including Georgia State Atlanta Campus faculty, can teach in several ways:
- For-credit classes may be taught, but they must be volunteer or taught as an overload and paid at the Perimeter College adjunct rate.
- Enrichment courses may be taught on a volunteer basis. While enrichment courses must fall within faculty specialty areas, these courses can be more creative in scope, interdisciplinary and team-taught. They also may vary in length.
- Tutoring opportunities are available at almost all facilities. We can use tutors in any subject area, but math and writing are our most critical needs. At this point, we still mostly are using volunteer tutors.
- Faculty from non-USG schools can be hired as adjunct faculty to teach for-credit courses, and they must complete the full Human Resources hiring package and be hired by the appropriate department chair in their discipline. Faculty from non-USG schools are always welcomed as volunteers to teach enrichment courses or to tutor students for test preparation and for supporting our classes.
- Students at the undergraduate and graduate levels in any discipline can complete their internships, service learning projects or volunteer hours with us because we are a non-profit organization.
- We accept volunteer workers as teachers, grant writers, library donation organizers, event organizers and office workers.
- We accept book donations for prison libraries.
- GSUPEP has a new online journal, 180 Journal, which is accepting volunteers to read, edit, and design. The journal publishes literary and artistic work from currently or previously incarcerated individuals.
- Everyone can follow us on Facebook, at GSU Prison Education Project.
- Everyone can spread the news to friends and family about the good work of prison education.
How Your Donations Can Help
The Georgia State University Prison Education Project is nonprofit and relies on donations to perform its work. Your tax-deductible contribution can do big things.
- $10,000 pays for one student to complete an associate degree.
- $5,000 pays for admission, testing, a single course and books for a class of 15 students.
- $1000 pays for a full set of textbooks for one class for one semester.
- $500 pays for faculty stipends to travel to prisons.
- $100 pays for school supplies for one class.
To contribute to the Prison Education Project, go to the Perimeter College Giving web page and click “Give Now.” Under “Find My Fund,” type in “GSU Prison Initiative Fund” and select “Perimeter College” as the category. A link to the fund page will appear. Click on the link and you will see options for giving.
For more information, please email Dr. Katherine D. Perry
or call 678-891-2778.
TESTIMONIALS
“DARKNESS–devoid or partially devoid of light.
I lived in the prison system as an inmate for five years, due to no one’s fault but my own. I was away from my family, away from the life I knew. My descent was into a world so dark, I wondered if I would survive–my soul was troubled.
I enrolled in a creative writing class … . Little did I know that this class taught by Katherine Perry would change what was then my life behind a 20-foot razor-wire-topped fence. Katherine taught me that everyone has a story to tell and writing poetry became my way to communicate who I was as a human being. Katherine became a light in the darkness that surrounded me.
My poetry took me back home to those I love and missed so very much. At times I was taken back to my Native American roots, to the ceremonies, to the laughter. The light became brighter with each written word, I found comfort and the strength I needed to overcome so many negatives. I also noticed that my fellow classmates began to open up, becoming more comfortable with the poetry written in that small class room made a positive impact on us all.
I was released from prison 10 years ago, I continue to write poetry, and I have been approached about writing a book of my journey, a journey from darkness to light that never would have been possible without that first class of creative writing taught by Katherine.
Being given the opportunity truly changed my thought processes from negative to positive. I began to see myself and the other women in a different light, and for that I am forever grateful…my soul is no longer troubled.”
Sonia Turley-Landers
(Sonia enrolled in a class sponsored by the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Program through Auburn University. Her professor, Katherine Perry, now teaches at Perimeter College and is a leader in the Georgia State University Prison Education Program coordinated through Perimeter College.)
“Over the last 22 years, I have worked with thousands of college students. When I leave a class that has been lively and engaging, I am energized; I know the students have learned; I know we have accomplished something together. As a teacher, there is no better feeling.
Thus far, I have left each of my prison classes with that feeling. These students truly understand the power of an education. They are curious, eager, and hard-working.
Recently, at Phillips State Prison, I worked on an essay with a student who told me he wasn’t writing for an assignment; he had been so inspired by Milton that he was researching to learn more. This is the first student I have ever heard say that.
I do not know what makes a person commit a crime. What do I know is that people deserve a second chance. Everyone deserves to learn, to enrich their lives, and to contribute to society, whether that is in the community inside of the prison for which they can serve as an example or in the communities they enter when they are released.
I believe that people benefit from education, that they are more confident, can do higher levels of thinking, and can make more informed decisions. Those are the people I want in my world. So, I teach, and I teach in prisons.
It is a privilege to work with these men and women who are hungry for knowledge and for a better life, and to know that maybe I have been one part of a system that has served them, and therefore all of us, well.”
Marissa McNamara
(Marissa McNamara is an assistant professor of English at Perimeter College and a faculty participant in the Georgia State University Prison Education Project.)
“My reasons for teaching in prisons have changed over the years. I started because I watched a person I love sit behind bars with nothing productive to do with his time; when I started, it was a way for me to reach out to the men and women behind bars who most people never contact or think about. Over the years, though, I’ve found the experience of teaching behind bars to be highly rewarding as an educator because the students are more invested in their education; they know exactly how devastating a lack of education is. The combination of giving back to my community through teaching at-risk populations and the personal gratification of teaching those who really want to be taught keeps me going back inside to teach year after year.
We started the Georgia State University Prison Education Project because we believe our judicial system is broken and needs our assistance. Our society has failed many of our most vulnerable populations with poor education and lacking support systems. Rather than helping our citizens, we over-incarcerate them and fail to offer real rehabilitation during incarceration. Teaching college courses in prisons is our way of working to break the cycle and to change our justice system one student at a time.”
Dr. Katherine D. Perry
(Dr. Katherine D. Perry is associate professor of English at Perimeter College and a co-founder and coordinator of Georgia State University Prison Education Project.)
TESTIMONIALS
“DARKNESS–devoid or partially devoid of light.
I lived in the prison system as an inmate for five years, due to no one’s fault but my own. I was away from my family, away from the life I knew. My descent was into a world so dark, I wondered if I would survive–my soul was troubled.
I enrolled in a creative writing class … . Little did I know that this class taught by Katherine Perry would change what was then my life behind a 20-foot razor-wire-topped fence. Katherine taught me that everyone has a story to tell and writing poetry became my way to communicate who I was as a human being. Katherine became a light in the darkness that surrounded me.
My poetry took me back home to those I love and missed so very much. At times I was taken back to my Native American roots, to the ceremonies, to the laughter. The light became brighter with each written word, I found comfort and the strength I needed to overcome so many negatives. I also noticed that my fellow classmates began to open up, becoming more comfortable with the poetry written in that small class room made a positive impact on us all.
I was released from prison 10 years ago, I continue to write poetry, and I have been approached about writing a book of my journey, a journey from darkness to light that never would have been possible without that first class of creative writing taught by Katherine.
Being given the opportunity truly changed my thought processes from negative to positive. I began to see myself and the other women in a different light, and for that I am forever grateful…my soul is no longer troubled.”
Sonia Turley-Landers
(Sonia enrolled in a class sponsored by the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Program through Auburn University. Her professor, Katherine Perry, now teaches at Perimeter College and is a leader in the Georgia State University Prison Education Program coordinated through Perimeter College.)
“Over the last 22 years, I have worked with thousands of college students. When I leave a class that has been lively and engaging, I am energized; I know the students have learned; I know we have accomplished something together. As a teacher, there is no better feeling.
Thus far, I have left each of my prison classes with that feeling. These students truly understand the power of an education. They are curious, eager, and hard-working.
Recently, at Phillips State Prison, I worked on an essay with a student who told me he wasn’t writing for an assignment; he had been so inspired by Milton that he was researching to learn more. This is the first student I have ever heard say that.
I do not know what makes a person commit a crime. What do I know is that people deserve a second chance. Everyone deserves to learn, to enrich their lives, and to contribute to society, whether that is in the community inside of the prison for which they can serve as an example or in the communities they enter when they are released.
I believe that people benefit from education, that they are more confident, can do higher levels of thinking, and can make more informed decisions. Those are the people I want in my world. So, I teach, and I teach in prisons.
It is a privilege to work with these men and women who are hungry for knowledge and for a better life, and to know that maybe I have been one part of a system that has served them, and therefore all of us, well.”
Marissa McNamara
(Marissa McNamara is an assistant professor of English at Perimeter College and a faculty participant in the Georgia State University Prison Education Program.)
“My reasons for teaching in prisons have changed over the years. I started because I watched a person I love sit behind bars with nothing productive to do with his time; when I started, it was a way for me to reach out to the men and women behind bars who most people never contact or think about. Over the years, though, I’ve found the experience of teaching behind bars to be highly rewarding as an educator because the students are more invested in their education; they know exactly how devastating a lack of education is. The combination of giving back to my community through teaching at-risk populations and the personal gratification of teaching those who really want to be taught keeps me going back inside to teach year after year.
We started the Georgia State University Prison Education Project because we believe our judicial system is broken and needs our assistance. Our society has failed many of our most vulnerable populations with poor education and lacking support systems. Rather than helping our citizens, we over-incarcerate them and fail to offer real rehabilitation during incarceration. Teaching college courses in prisons is our way of working to break the cycle and to change our justice system one student at a time.”
Dr. Katherine D. Perry
(Dr. Katherine D. Perry is associate professor of English at Perimeter College and a co-founder and coordinator of Georgia State University Prison Education Project.)