prison
Philosophy Organization Serves Women Recovering from Homelessness and Prison, and Others
Wisdom’s Edge Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to bring philosophy-based classes to people who do not have access to traditional university offerings in philosophy. (more…)
Belarusian Philosopher, Imprisoned Since August, Is Now on Hunger Strike
Uladzimir Mackievič (Matskevich), a philosopher in Belarus who has been critical of Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s longtime dictator, has been in prison since last August, charged with “organizing of actions that grossly violate public order.” Owing to lack of progress with his case, he began a hunger strike on February 4th. (more…)
A Philosopher Helps A Former Prisoner Dig Deep Into His Experiences, Thoughts, and Art
“I realized I couldn’t be what the officials were expecting of me. You got to put that in your head so they can’t break you. They want to break you. If you’re not broken, they say you’re crazy.” (more…)
Three of Wesleyan’s Graduating Philosophy Majors Earned Their Degrees While In Prison
This month, the first group of seven incarcerated men will be graduating from a recently created program at Wesleyan University with their Bachelor’s degrees. Three of them—Michael Braham, Clyde Meikle, and Andre Pierce—will be graduating as philosophy majors. (more…)
Northwestern Prison Education Program Raises Funds to Fight Spread of COVID in Prisons
The Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP), led by Northwestern University Professor of Philosophy Jennifer Lackey, has been raising funds and purchasing supplies to combat the spread of COVID-19 among prison populations in Illinois. (more…)
Philosopher-Led Prison Education Program Receives $1 Million Grant
The Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP), an initiative “to provide a high-quality liberal arts education to incarcerated students in Illinois” while reducing recidivism, led by Northwestern University professor of philosophy Jennifer Lackey, has received a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to expand its programs. (more…)
New AOS: Public Philosophy & Prison Education
Marymount Manhattan College is looking to hire someone with expertise in both public philosophy and prison education, neither of which have been listed as areas of specialization in a philosophy job ad before, to my knowledge. (more…)
An Ethics Bowl Inside San Quentin State Prison
In February, in the chapel of San Quentin State Prison, seven philosophy undergraduates from the University of California, Santa Cruz faced off against a group of prison inmates—in an ethics discussion. (more…)
From Prison in Illinois to Publication in The New Yorker with Help from a Philosophy Professor
Fifteen inmates at Statesville Correctional Center in Illinois took a course on mass incarceration with Northwestern University philosophy professor Jennifer Lackey. It was an interdisciplinary course with a range of guest lecturers, including Alex Kotlowitz, a writer and a senior lecturer in journalism at Northwestern. He gave them an assignment to write about thei..
Philosophy in Prison Program at U.Missouri Kansas-City Wins Prize from APA and PDC
The Philosophy in Prison Program of the Philosophy Department at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) has won 2016 Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs. The prize is awarded jointly by the American Philosophical Association (APA) and the Philosophy Documentation Center (PDC). The prize award is campus-wide electronic access to a bund..
Applying Philosophy to Our Prison Problem
How did the United States go from a country that incarcerated roughly 500,000 citizens in 1980 to one that incarcerates roughly 2.3 million today? Civil unrest and rising crime were used to focus public debate on ideals of law and order. Those ideals were then employed to justify a criminal-justice system that, given social conditions, runs counter to race-neutral, ..
Course Evals from Prisoners and Princetonians
Sukaina Hirji and Daniel Wodak, two graduate students at Princeton, are currently teaching a class of fourteen prisoners at the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility in New Jersey. You may recall that they were two of the philosophers interviewed here previously about their experiences teaching philosophy in prison.
Their course this term is called “Philos..
More on Teaching Philosophy in Prison
The notion of incarceration goes back to the beginning of philosophy, with the imprisonment and execution of Socrates—and the idea, expressed by his student Plato in the Republic, that we are all imprisoned by the cave of our own reflections but don’t realize it. “ face a lot of the issues ordinary people face, but in a heightened condition. We’re all doing life in ..
Teaching Philosophy in Prisons
Currently over two million people in the United States are in prison, and about nine million worldwide. There are many questions worth asking about the systems of criminal justice that lead to that result. The focus of this post, though, is quite narrow. It concerns just one thing academic philosophers can do, as academic philosophers, in light of this: teach prison..
Professors’ Lawsuit Says Idaho Anti-Abortion Law Violates Free Speech Rights
A group of professors, including two philosophy professors, along with the Idaho Federation of Teachers and the University of Idaho Faculty Federation, have filed a lawsuit challenging a 2021 state law that prevents state funds from being used to “procure, counsel in favor, refer to or perform an abortion”. (more…)
Douglas Portmore’s Six Commandments for Getting the Most Out of Graduate School
How can you get the most out of graduate school? Douglas Portmore, professor of philosophy at Arizona State University, has some advice for you. (more…)
Philosophy News Summary
Recent philosophy-related news.* (more…)
Supreme Court Declares Harvard’s and UNC’s Affirmative Action Programs Unconstitutional
“Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the U.S. Supreme Court declared in a ruling today. (more…)
Two of Wesleyan’s Graduating Philosophy Majors Earned Their Degrees While Incarcerated
Two philosophy majors graduating this year from Wesleyan University earned their degrees while incarcerated. (more…)
Lackey Honored by Brown University
Jennifer Lackey, professor of philosophy at Northwestern University, was awarded the 2023 Horace Mann Medal by Brown University’s Graduate School. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Recent links… (more…)
A Philosophy Department Is Born
The University of California, Merced now has a Philosophy Department. (more…)
Philosophers Among Winners of NEH Grants
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced the recipients of their latest round of grants, and a number of philosophers are among the winners. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
The weekly report on new and revised entries at online philosophy resources and new reviews of philosophy books… (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
The weekly report on new and revised entries at online philosophy resources and new reviews of philosophy books…
Kelly & Rembert Win Pulitzer Prize
Erin Kelly, professor of philosophy at Tufts University, together with the late Winfred Rembert, have won the the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for biography/autobiography for their book, Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
The weekly report on new and revised entries at online philosophy resources and new reviews of philosophy books… (more…)
Former Postdoc Allegedly Threatens Philosophy Department (several updates)
A former postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) yesterday by email made “general threats… against the philosophy department and members of it,” according to a message circulated in the department. (more…)