The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program was started at Temple University in the late nineties as an educational program bringing together incarcerated men and women (inside students) and college students (outside students) into a common classroom within the walls of a prison or jail. Students study crime, justice, and other social issues as peers, learning from one another and building relationships across societal barriers.
Aside from being taught within a correctional facility and between students on the inside and out, Inside-Out courses also depend on teaching and learning through more experiential methods. Instructors facilitate the group in a variety of exercises, games, discussions, storytelling, and other activities that encourage students to interact with one another and learn from one another.
Last May, GC ran its first Inside-Out course, led by Carolyn Schrock-Shenk and Glenn Gilbert, with 12 GC men and women and 12 men incarcerated at the Elkhart County Jail. This May, there are two courses being offered, with a total of 19 outside students and 20 inside students.
The first course is the same that was offered last year, Justice in Our Lives, led again by Carolyn and Glenn. The course focuses on a variety of different topics all under the umbrella of justice in society and in our personal experiences. These topics range from violence and masculinity, to crime and punishment, to restorative justice, and to nonviolence, among others.
The second course is Borders, Boundaries and Bridges, led by Michelle Milne and Saulo Padilla. This course also focuses on a variety of topics under the umbrella of justice through examining walls, borders, boundaries, and bridges—both literal and metaphorical—and how students have experienced and perceived issues related to these barriers in their own lives.