Justice-impacted Educational Initiatives for Transformative Learning and Research Experiences

The Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI) at Princeton University combines the University's academic and service-driven initiatives by providing access to high quality for-credit college education to justice-impacted students in the New Jersey carceral system, fostering a campus dialogue on mass incarceration and its relationship to systemic inequalities in access to education. This is complemented by a strong volunteer teaching and tutoring program employing evidence-based pedagogy that is open to university as well as community members. In this talk, I will provide an overview of activities that not only support college-level STEM education inside carceral systems but also REU and mentoring programs that are designed to supplement the educational experiences of justice-impacted students continuing their education outside the carceral system. Drawing on my experience as a PTI fellow, course instructor and developer, and a past REU mentor, I will make the case for expanding quality access to educational as well as research opportunities for justice-impacted students to better democratize the academic landscape.