From May 5 -7, 2025, OPEEP held a training for new instructors who are joining our efforts to bring high quality educational experiences to campus and incarcerated students. Nineteen OSU faculty members met for three days to learn more about teaching in a prison setting, as well as the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections’ (ODRC) and OSU’s guidelines and requirements for OPEEP courses.
This intensive pedagogical training included an overview of Ohio's carceral landscape, the educational opportunities available to incarcerated individuals, disability accommodations in prison classrooms, tailoring assignments, and an expert panel on classroom management and students. “I have been aware of OPEEP since the project began and always wanted to teach in the program. But I had lots of questions about logistics and my own psychological and emotional capacity,” shared Pranav Jani, Associate Professor in the Department of English. “The OPEEP training was perfect, combining practical information and tips with open discussions about what the work entails.”
While the first and third days were held on OSU’s main campus, the second day was spent at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) in Marysville. While there, the future instructors met with members of Liberation at the Margins (LAM) Collective, who facilitated two small group pedagogy workshops. In addition, participants completed a Prison Rape Elimination Act training, and everyone from the degree cohort at ORW joined trainees and LAM members to enjoy a meal together in community. “The training was transformative and gave me a fresh sense of why and how I teach,” says Elizabeth Sheehan, Associate Professor in the Department of English. “The opportunity to meet and learn from the members of the LAM collective and the students in the BA program at the women's prison was especially amazing. They had great ideas about how to put Black feminist pedagogy into practice in the classroom.”
Now that they have completed the required training, the instructors are eligible to teach OPEEP courses. Courses are typically taught on a faculty member’s or instructor’s regular course load, though minimum enrollment levels are set by departments and regional campuses. OPEEP faculty from Columbus, Newark, Mansfield, and Lima campuses teach at five prison locations across the state.
