Inside-Out: Prisoners and College Students studying together

Inside-Out is a national program that Goshen College and PJCS have been participating in for five years, originally under the leadership of Professor Carolyn Schrock-Shenk, and has since grown into two classes, focusing on different concepts. Though challenging to implement, the format is basically simple: 12 prisoners (the Inside students) and 12 college students (the Outside students) take a college course together in a jail or prison.

The Inside-Out national website is subtitled “Social Change through Transformative Education.” That is no idle boast, on the evidence of the three years Goshen College has run Inside-Out courses at the local Elkhart County jail. Both Inside and Outside students have consistently found it to be one of the most powerful educational experiences they have ever had. Watch this space, and we will bring you some responses from students this past May. In the meantime, let us whet your appetite with a link to the national Inside-Out website.