lang prison initiative
Punishment and detention powerfully shape our society, including our academic institutions. After legislation was passed in the early 1990s ending Pell Grant awards to persons who are incarcerated, many college prison programs folded. However, studies have shown that tertiary education is both cost-effective and reduces recidivism by 40%.
In Spring 2018, Lang piloted a course at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), a federal facility located in downtown Manhattan that houses men and women accused of federal crimes or serving short-term sentences. In Fall 2018, we built on this pilot class by running another class solely for MCC students, along with one combined class, bringing Lang students to MCC to engage in classes along with incarcerated students. This program marked the first time MCC has opened its doors to a college, and Lang’s class marked the first college course offering in a federal prison in New York’s history. We believe these classes will not only benefit the professors and students who have their classes inside but will build a culture of restorative justice and compassion that is essential to social justice work. This pilot project was made possible by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation
Lang Prison Initiative Reading Group is based in CESJ and invites students to gather to read and discuss literature on prison abolition frameworks, histories, current practices, and the contributions of prison education to "rehabilitation" initiatives and community-based violence prevention and alternatives to incarceration programs. These are complicated topics, and students will spend time preparing and participating in each gathering. The students will receive 0 -1 credit for their efforts. The course will be online - once a week - 90 minutes - 6 weeks and instructed by Zishan Ugurlu. This course is organized and initiated by Lang College Civic Engagement and Social Justice.
Lang Prison Initiative’s Reading Group
Previous Courses Led by LPI’s Reading Group
Fall 2022: LANG PRISON EDUCATION INITIATIVE’S READING GROUP: A PEOPLE'S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING MASS INCARCERATION by James Kilgore
LANG CESJ
Syllabus: Fall 2022 - LNGC 2030 (CRN 15093) (0 - 1 Credit)
Professors: Zishan (Zisan) Ugurlu
Email: ugurluz@newschool.edu
Class Days Between: September 20 - October 25 / 2022 (6 Weeks Period)
Class Hours: Tuesdays 6:00 - 7:30 pm - Online Course
The statistics of mass incarceration are monumental and widely reported. In this course, we will explore the relationship between the “Lock ‘Em Up and Throw Away the Key” movement, the growth of popular support for a rapidly expanding prison estate, and mass incarceration’s origins story through the in-depth writings of James Kilgore.
The United States came to imprison more people than any other country in the world. The United States incarcerates more of its own than any other country in the world. Roughly 25% of the world’s total prison population is here in the United States, with over 2,500 inmates on death row, 2.3 million people behind bars, 4.4 million people under some form of probation or parole supervision manifest this country’s racialized mass incarceration, the prison industrial complex, and human rights catastrophe.
As Michelle Alexander stated, that book is “A brilliant overview of America’s defining human rights crisis'' and a “much-needed introduction to the racial, political, and economic dimensions of mass incarceration.”
Understanding Mass Incarceration is essential for laying out key concepts and policies and an excellent guide to the key civil rights struggle of our time.
This course was organized and initiated by Lang College Civic Engagement and Social Justice.
SPRING 2022: LANG PRISON EDUCATION INITIATIVE’S READING GROUP: ARE PRISONS OBSOLETE? by Angela Davis
LANG CESJ
Syllabus: Spring 2022 - LNGC 2030 (CRN 12332) (0 - 1 Credit)
Professor: Zishan (Zisan) Ugurlu
Email: ugurluz@newschool.edu
Class Days Between: March 2 - April 13 / 2022 (6 Weeks Period)
Class Hours: Wednesdays 6 -7 pm - Online Course
This course will explore the social justice road to abolition through the writing of Angela Davis. Over the forty years she has been active in numerous organizations and challenging the American prison system which has fallen predominantly on poor communities of color. The United States incarcerates more of its own than any other country in the world. Roughly 25% of the world’s total prison population is here in the United States, with over 2,500 inmates on death row, 2.3 million people behind bars, 4.4 million people are under some form of probation or parole supervision manifest this country’s the racialized mass incarceration, the prison industrial complex, and human rights catastrophe. During the six, hour-long sessions we will read and discuss together the question of “Prison Reform or Prison Abolition” through the Angela Davis’s seminal text Are Prisons Obsolete? People active in transformative justice and prison abolition movements will join us for a few of the sessions. This course was organized and initiated by Lang College Civic Engagement and Social Justice.
Fall 2021: SO YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT BECOMING AN ABOLITIONIST; We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba
LANG CESJ
Syllabus: Fall 2021 - LNGC 2030 (CRN 13626) (0 - 1 Credit)
Professors: Zishan (Zisan) Ugurlu and Robert Sember
Email: ugurluz@newschool.edu and semberr@newschool.edu
Class Days Between: October 6 - November 10 / 2021 (6 Weeks Period)
Class Hours: Wednesdays 5:00 - 6:00 pm - Online Course
In October 2020 the organizer, educator, curator, and prison abolitionist, Mariame Kaba, published the essay, “So You’re Thinking about Becoming an Abolitionist.” Here are the opening sentences:
"Today, more people are discussing and contemplating prison abolition than ever before. Decades of collective organizing have brought us to this moment: some are newly aware that prisons, policing, and the criminal punishment system in general are racist, oppressive, and ineffective. However, some might be wondering, “Is abolition too drastic? Can we really get rid of prisons and policing all together?” The short answer: We Can. We Must. We are."
If you are thinking of becoming an abolitionist or already consider yourself an abolitionist, we hope you will join us this Fall as we read and discuss Mariame Kaba’s collection of essays and interviews, We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice. During the six, hour-long sessions we will read and discuss Mariame Kaba’s work together. People active in transformative justice and prison abolition movements will join us for a few of the sessions.
This course was organized and initiated by Lang College Civic Engagement and Social Justice.