Courses

Courses at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) in Marysville:

• SOCIOL 2463: Social Inequality with Newark Professor Rachel Schneider (Tues 12:30-3:15)

  In this course you will learn about social stratification in American society and how these are related to the unequal distribution of resources like education, jobs, money, and social status. We begin the course by examining the nature and scope of social class inequalities in the U.S., along with an exploration of belief systems and how social class impacts life chances. Our studies will include a look at the origin and characteristics of social class, how class is related to power relationships in American society, and how class intersects with both race and gender. We will look at socialization practices in the home, school systems, and the media. We will also uncover the reality of poverty by learning about the lived experiences of those living way below the poverty line. Finally, we will investigate how social stratification influences health outcomes, the chances of ending up in the criminal justice system, how families operate, corporate power and the low wage worker, along with how capitalism intersects with our food system and the environment. Throughout the course students will be encouraged to see connections between their own experiences of privilege/oppression and current sociological scholarship. At the end of this course students should be able to recognize, understand, apply, and analyze the intersections of social inequality (social class, race, & gender) in modern U.S. society.
   

• WGSS 2326S: Feminist Perspectives on Addiction with Columbus professor Linda Mizejewski (Weds 12:30-3:15pm)

  This course is grounded in feminist addiction studies, which explores how systems of oppression and inequality have an impact on the development and treatment of substance abuse. Topics will include feminist and traditional approaches to addiction and recovery; motherhood and reproductive rights; public policy and criminalization; representations of substance abuse in popular culture; recovery memoirs; and the special needs of minority populations regarding addiction and recovery. This is a service-learning course, which brings campus students into interactions with a population that has historically been highly impacted by substance-abuse issues. This class provides reimbursement from car mileage used for transportation.
   

• GEOG 1900H: Extreme Weather and Climate with Columbus Professor Alvaro Montenegro (Thurs 12:30-3:15pm)

  Surveys characteristics and processes of Earth's atmosphere and how it interacts with the planet's surface, oceans, and human activity. The course focus on how these interactions work to produce extreme weather events such as droughts, thunderstorms,  tornadoes, and hurricanes as well as how they affect people and the environment. It provides a comprehensive view of anthropogenic climate change, including the history of the subject. During laboratories, students make meteorological measurements and conduct experiments that demonstrate in practice aspects of the theory discussed in lectures.
   

Courses at Richland Correctional Institution (RiCI) in Mansfield: 

• SOCIOL 3430: Sociology of Family with Mansfield Professor Terri Winnick (Weds 5:15pm-8pm)

  Sociology of Family is a course designed to explore sociologically the most enduring institution in the world, and to broaden our perspective toward the vast and colorful mosaic that represents family life today. In this course we will look analytically at the economic, political and cultural factors shaping family life in all its diversity. We will examine how family life has evolved throughout history, and how demographic factors such as patterns of fertility and mortality have contributed to the change. Particular attention will be paid to the impact of structural factors such as the persistence of gender, race and class inequality on work and family formation. We will dive deeply into the intractable problem of domestic violence.
   

Courses at London Correctional Institution (LoCI) in London: 

• SOCIOL 2211S: Corrections with Newark Professor Angela Bryant (Weds 12:30-3:15pm)

  This course engages students in critical readings and discussions focused on the origins and development of the American criminal justice system, the historical and contemporary use of punishment and rehabilitation, the re-emergence of restorative justice, and the broader relationship between criminal and social justice. Specifically, we will focus on better understanding mass incarceration, considering its causes and consequences, as well as exploring the impact of crime, imprisonment and related policies on victims and communities.
   

• AFAMAST 2201: Major Readings in African American Studies with Columbus Professor Viet N. Trinh (Thurs 5:30-8:15pm)

  This course is a reading- and discussion-intensive lecture course on the diverse thinkers, ideas, and texts that have defined African American and African Studies from the nineteenth century to the present. Readings include Harriet Jacobs, Saidiya Hartman, W.E.B. Du Bois, Aimé Césaire, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison, as well as Thomas Ruffin Gray and Alex Haley’s renditions of Nat Turner and Malcolm X respectively. Over the semester, students will consider myriad topics, such as Black feminist interpretations of historical texts; chattel slavery, abolitionism, and their afterlives; fascism and anti-fascism as they pertain not just to Europe, but also to Africa and the Americas; and the Black freedom struggle’s responses to contemporary systems of white supremacy. The course revolves around four central pillars, which also reflect the learning objectives for its participants. First, students will reconstruct and weigh foundational conversations in Black Studies. Second, they will outline the field’s interdisciplinary responses to more traditional, disciplinary systems of thinking. Third, they will reflect on Black Studies as lived praxis rather than as mere academic discourse. Finally, through both regular in-session practice and a sizable term project, students will train the skills to analyze firsthand primary source evidence; situate it within its particular place, time, and context; and propose cogent arguments about its meaning and importance.

Spring 2024 OPEEP Courses

Courses at Southeastern Correctional Institution (SCI) in Lancaster: 

• African American & African Studies/History 3083: Civil Rights and Black Power Movements with Newark Professor Tiyi Morris (morris.730@osu.edu), Tuesdays 5:30-8:15pm

  This course addresses some of the significant events, goals, strategies, activists, and organizations of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. Using a bottom-up analysis that reassesses traditional definitions of leadership and emphasizes the contributions of local, grassroots activists, our examination will include the intersections between local and national civil rights goals; a gendered analysis of Movement activism; the role of non-violence and armed self-defense; the connections between civil rights and Black power; and the legacy of these movements. In so doing, students will gain a more comprehensive understanding of the Black freedom struggle and how it manifested in the mid-twentieth century.
   

Courses at Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution (AOCI) in Lima:

• Theater 3814: Acting 3 – Improvisation with Lima Professor Margie Anich (anich.1@osu.edu), Mondays 5-7:30pm

  An advanced acting studio focused on various acting topics, techniques, and approaches. Topics may include Shakespeare, improvisation, period styles, and others. Improvisation is essentially creating monologues and scenes without a script. Just like life. Learn and practice some of the basic skills of improvisation, build confidence, become a better listener, and discover how improvisation can be used not just as entertainment, but to facilitate dialogue, address conflict, and so much more!
   

Courses at Richland Correctional Institution (RiCI) in Mansfield: 

• Sociology 4610: Deviant Behavior with Mansfield Campus Professor Terri Winnick (winnick.3@osu.edu), Wednesdays 5:15-8:00pm

  Deviance, strictly speaking, is a deviation from the norm. In other words, deviance describes behavior that is not “normal,” at least in terms of what most people consider normal. And, though deviance can refer to behavior that is exceptional, such as genius, most often the term is applied to behavior that is negatively valued and often condemned. In this course, we will explore the wide variety of deviant behavior across the social landscape, from the streets to the suites and from the bedrooms to the boardrooms. We will also examine how people become deviant, how deviance affects other people’s perception of those so labeled as well as their perception of themselves, how deviance is controlled, and how deviant groups fight back in order to reject stigmatization and struggle for rights.
   

Courses at London Correctional Institution (LoCI) in London: 

• Sociology 2211S: Corrections with Columbus Professor Terrance Hinton (hinton.212@osu.edu), Tuesdays 12:30-3:15pm

  This course engages students in critical readings and discussions focused on the origins and development of the American criminal justice system, the historical and contemporary use of punishment and rehabilitation, the re-emergence of restorative justice, and the broader relationship between criminal and social justice. Specifically, we will focus on better understanding mass incarceration, considering its causes and consequences, as well as exploring the impact of crime, imprisonment and related policies on victims and communities. A marriage of theoretical knowledge with practical understanding and experience is achieved by holding class inside London Correctional Institution throughout the semester. Involving roughly equal numbers of OSU students and incarcerated students, the class utilizes a variety of active learning techniques and leads to production of one or more class projects by the end of the course.   

Autumn 2023 OPEEP Courses

Courses at Southeastern Correctional Institution (SCI) in Lancaster  

• Philosophy 3420:  Philosophical Perspectives on Issues of Gender with Columbus Campus Professor Amy Shuster (shuster.67@osu.edu) Wednesdays, 5:30-8:15pm

  “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman”—or so thought Simone de Beauvoir in 1949. This groundbreaking statement is part of an on-going conversation about how and whether gender is related to biological sex, sexuality, class, race, ethnicity, and nation. What does it mean to be a woman or man? Can one be neither? How does gender inform what we think about the good, truth, rationality, and justice? (How) Can answers to these questions help those who seek to resist and end domination, exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, imperialism, and/or violence? This course explores these questions from a broad range of feminist perspectives as well as from ones that are not feminist.
   

Courses at Richland Correctional Institution (RiCI) in Mansfield  

• Sociology 4505: Capital Punishment with Mansfield Campus Professor Terri Winnick (winnick.3@osu.edu) Wednesdays, 5:15-8:00pm

  This course will examine the death penalty—its administration throughout history--both legally and culturally, with emphasis on pivotal Supreme Court cases that have shaped its use. We also will explore capital punishment’s relationship with race and class, and the impact of the death penalty on victim families as well as the condemned persons’ families. We end by considering capital punishment’s future in the US.

Spring 2023 OPEEP Courses

Courses at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) in Marysville

• ENG 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing with Lima Campus Professor David Adams (adams.428@osu.edu), Mondays 5:00-7:45pm

  This creative writing course will function as a writing workshop: our reading and discussion will focus on student work as well as published models of creative nonfiction. We'll consider the literary elements of nonfiction, including voice, point of view, characterization, narrative structure, detail, and figurative language. Each student will build a portfolio of creative nonfiction and we'll discuss the importance of writing communities and audiences. The practice of creative nonfiction allows each writer's own voice to assume authority. Experience, expertise, and experiment—three words with a common origin—will remain central to our work: recognized as the foremost experts on their own experience, students will learn that finding the most effective ways to communicate this expertise, like experience itself, involves experimentation.
   

• SOC 2211S: Corrections: An Inside-Out Course with Columbus Campus Professor Terrance Hinton (hinton.212@osu.edu), Mondays 12:30-3:15pm

  This course engages students in critical readings and discussions focused on the origins and development of the American criminal justice system, the historical and contemporary use of punishment and rehabilitation, the re-emergence of restorative justice, and the broader relationship between criminal and social justice. Specifically, we will focus on better understanding mass incarceration, considering its causes and consequences, as well as exploring the impact of crime, imprisonment and related policies on victims and communities. A marriage of theoretical knowledge with practical understanding and experience is achieved by holding class inside the Ohio Reformatory for Women throughout the semester. Involving roughly equal numbers of OSU students and incarcerated students, the class utilizes a variety of active learning techniques and leads to production of one or more class projects by the end of the course.
   

• ENG 2275: Literatures of Addiction with Newark Campus Professor David Ruderman (ruderman.4@osu.edu), Mondays 12:30-3:15pm

  This class addresses the issue of addiction from a personal, socio-cultural, and political perspective. Nationwide, nearly 50% of Americans have been directly exposed to alcoholism in their families. The number of drug overdose deaths increases at an annual rate of 4%. In addition, deaths from heroin overdoses have quadrupled over the last six years. To understand addiction at a deeper level, in this class we read novels, poems, and memoirs, look at movies, and listen to songs that deal with addiction. We ask certain core questions: what does it mean to be addicted? What is the relation between creativity and addiction? What role does systemic and intergenerational poverty play? What are the lasting effects of addiction on the community?
   

• WGSS 2822: Introduction to Queer Studies with Columbus Campus Professor Shannon Winnubst (winnubst.1@osu.edu), Mondays 5:00-7:45pm

  This course is sponsored by the Ohio Prison Education Exchange Project (OPEEP), is cross-listed in the Departments of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies and English, and counts towards the“Race, Ethnicity & Gender” foundational course of the GE as well as the “Cultures & Ideas” and “Social Diversity in the US” of the former GE.  The course introduces foundational concepts of the interdisciplinary field of queer studies, focusing especially on the intersections of sexuality and gender expression with race, class, and nationality. Class meetings will take place at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW), an adult correctional institution in Marysville, Ohio, and will involve roughly the same number of OSU students (“outsiders”) as incarcerated students at ORW (“insiders”). Course design emphasizes discussion and collaboration in learning. The course also provides a unique experience for all students that I hope will have a transformative effect during the semester and beyond.  

Courses at Southeastern Correctional Institution (SCI) in Lancaster  

• ENR 2300: Society and Natural Resources with Columbus Campus Professor Alia Dietsch (dietsch.29@osu.edu), Wednesdays 5:30-8:15pm

  This course seeks to foster a community of engaged scholars who wish to examine, discuss, and apply learning about how society interacts with the environment and natural resources in complex social-ecological systems. The main organizing features are habitats (land, water), resources (air, wildlife and fisheries, vegetation/trees, soil), and processes (e.g., restoration, protected areas) and the course is organized by 3 social levels (individuals, communities, and polities) repeated across each organizing feature. The goals of this class are to fundamentally explore why humans do what they do (and why they don't do what they 'should') and how people decide (and enforce) what that 'should' is in the context of our planet. We will also focus on issues related to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Discussing these topics requires students, the teaching assistant, and the instructor to recognize and honor that we all come from different backgrounds, and to commit to share our experiences in ways that allow for new understandings through dialogue that may be uncomfortable yet transformative.
   

• PHIL 2194: The Philosophy of Happiness with Columbus Campus Professor Amy Shuster (shuster.67@osu.edu), Tuesdays 5:30-8:15pm

  Most people say they aim for happiness in their own lives and wish their friends happy lives too. Unlike other good things, one person’s happiness does not require another person’s unhappiness. But beyond that, what is it? Is it a state of mind, or something more? Can we be mistaken about our happiness? Once we get clear about what happiness is, does that help us answer questions about how it relates to a flourishing and meaningful life, and a good political community? For instance, what should we think about happiness in light of the prevalence of suffering in our world and our capacity for harm and vulnerability? This course will provide a survey of philosophical responses to questions about what happiness is, how we can best pursue it, and whether (and if so, why) we should try to be happy.
   

• GEOG 3600: Space, Power, and Political Geography with Newark Campus Professor Kenneth Madsen (madsen.34@osu.edu), Mondays 5:30-8:15pm

  GEOG 3600 is an introduction to political geography, how space is controlled, and the ways in which places reflect and serve as a basis for power.  In studying this topic, we will draw on case studies at various scales from the local to the international. Territory and territoriality, for example, are concepts frequently associated with nation-states, but which also have small group and even individual applications. Together we will apply knowledge from our study of political geography to better understand personal space, graffiti, political protest, electoral geography, colonization, borders, inequality, states and statecraft, governance, popular culture, classrooms, prisons, and other issues of student interest.  We will talk about the politics of nations, regions and localities – of course – but political geography is about more than just "politics"!