As we welcome the cooler weather (Dr. Morris begrudgingly so), we are undertaking preparations for Spring classes. We just completed recruitment and enrollment of incarcerated students for our Spring 2025 classes in prison facilities in London, Lancaster, and Marysville. These combined enrollment classes of campus and incarcerated students cannot run without campus student participation, so please encourage students in your networks to take an OPEEP class. Our spring classes include a range of disciplines from the College of Arts and Sciences – Art, Dance, English, Psychology, and Sociology – as well as two classes in WGSS for the degree cohort at ORW. You can find the details for all the classes on our website.
And be sure to check out the profiles in this newsletter of the two amazing OPEEP instructors who will be teaching at Southeastern Correctional Institution (SCI) in Lancaster this Spring.
Our Learning Community at the Ohio Reformatory for Women – Liberation at the Margins (LAM) Collective – continues to meet bi-weekly to explore Black feminisms. See a LAM member’s write up of our workshop with OPEEP instructor Jill Davis in this newsletter. We are currently working on a collection of essays by LAM members that explores how they incorporate Black feminist praxis into their lives and the challenges of “living a feminist life” while incarcerated. This monograph will provide an insightful examination of the everyday utility of Black feminisms from the perspective of individuals at ORW. Stay tuned for the launch of our LAM website in November! We are working diligently to develop a platform that will keep you informed and engaged with LAM activities.
On October 29th and 30th, the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison will be hosting its first Incarcerated Scholars Conference. This free, virtual event will “feature currently incarcerated scholars who will share their insights on the value, methods, and future of higher education in prison.” Students from Dr. Morris’ Spring 2024, Civil Rights and Black Power Movements class at SCI, will be presenting on Wednesday, October 30th at 2:30pm. Their presentation will explore how the learning about these Black led social justice movements enhanced their understanding of activism, leadership, and citizenship, and how their experiences in this combined enrollment course transformed their work in other spaces at the prison. We hope that you can attend the conference and support our students’ amazing work. You can register for the conference here.
Over the past few months, we have seen remarkable engagement from our campus community and incarcerated students. We invite you to continue supporting OPEEP by registering for our Spring ‘25 classes, spreading the word, attending our events, or making a donation to our Campus Campaign. Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram @opeep_osu.
Thank you for being a part of our community. We’re excited to continue this journey together!
Dr. Mary Thomas and Dr. Tiyi Morris
