Living in Prison: Insights from the American Prison Writing Archive

Description

Two million people in the U.S. live behind bars, in prisons and jails. Their voices are largely absent from the civic sphere, political debate, and mass media. Yet imprisoned authors are among the sharpest analysts of their own situation, as well as of U.S. politics and society in general. Now, the American Prison Writing Archive, a collection of over 3,300 essays by incarcerated people, is moving to Johns Hopkins University as a resource available to everyone to learn about life behind bars.

In this panel discussion, the founder of the American Prison Writing Archive, Doran Larson, will be in conversation with three current Johns Hopkins undergraduates who have recently completed yearlong original research projects based on essays in the archive, supervised by Vesla Weaver and Stuart Schrader. Larson will provide an overview of the archive, and the students will present their research findings on COVID-19 in prison, legal efforts to prevent sexual assault in prison, and bureaucratic hurdles to rehabilitation.

Sponsored by the Program in Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship, with the support of a faculty grant from the SNF Agora Institute.

Speakers:

• Doran Larson, professor of literature and creating writing, Hamilton College
• Adriana Orduña, JHU ''23, international studies and sociology
• Emma Petite, JHU ''24, international studies and political science
• Eliza Zimmerman, JHU ''23, sociology and Writing Seminars