Correctional Center Reading Group
Major
English – Writing
Second Major
English – Literature
Submission Type
Poster
Area of Study or Work
Humanities
Faculty Advisor
Joanne Diaz
Location
CNS Atrium
Start Date
4-12-2025 8:30 AM
End Date
4-12-2025 9:30 AM
Abstract
The Correctional Center Reading Group is an internship credit class in which three students host a book club with individuals in custody. These students met with an organizer of the Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prisons (ILCHEP) and IWU professors with a background in justice systems to learn about social conditions that create mass incarceration as well as its practical implications. Students then selected a book to read for both themselves and the 10 individuals in custody involved in the program, and have primarily had literary discussions over WebX. Book selection rotates between the students’ choices and the inmates’ choices. At the end of the month, these students will travel to Lawrence Correctional Center, a maximum security facility, to hold the final meeting of the book club in person with the incarcerated members. The goal of this reading group is to pilot a continuous program between individuals in custody and IWU across all disciplines, as well as provide students with the tools to examine a consistently overlooked population of America.
Correctional Center Reading Group
CNS Atrium
The Correctional Center Reading Group is an internship credit class in which three students host a book club with individuals in custody. These students met with an organizer of the Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prisons (ILCHEP) and IWU professors with a background in justice systems to learn about social conditions that create mass incarceration as well as its practical implications. Students then selected a book to read for both themselves and the 10 individuals in custody involved in the program, and have primarily had literary discussions over WebX. Book selection rotates between the students’ choices and the inmates’ choices. At the end of the month, these students will travel to Lawrence Correctional Center, a maximum security facility, to hold the final meeting of the book club in person with the incarcerated members. The goal of this reading group is to pilot a continuous program between individuals in custody and IWU across all disciplines, as well as provide students with the tools to examine a consistently overlooked population of America.