Jacobs Initiates Conversation about Bringing Inside-Out Prison Exchange Classes to Wayne State

Dr. Michelle R. Jacobs hosted an informational meeting in the sociology department on the Inside-Out (IO) Prison Exchange Program on November 4, 2015. The meeting was conducted by Julia Cuneo, IO Michigan coordinator and Dr. Paul Draus, associate professor of sociology at UM-Dearborn, IO instructor, and IO Michigan coordinator.

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program provides the opportunity for undergraduate students to take a semester-long college course inside a correctional facility with incarcerated men or women to study as peers -- allowing for a deeper understanding of crime, justice, freedom, inequality and other issues of social concern. IO courses are comprised of 15 "inside" (incarcerated) students and 15 "outside" (traditional college) students. IO classes are presently offered at several Michigan universities, including Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, and Michigan State.

The purpose of this informational meeting was to determine whether WSU faculty were interested in bringing the program to Wayne State University. The meeting was well attended and included faculty from Sociology, Criminal Justice and Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures departments. Should the program be implemented at Wayne State, the courses will be held at a Michigan Department of Corrections facility.

Inside-Out is an international program that has trained more than 310 instructors from 150+ colleges and universities in 37 states, two Canadian provinces and Australia. IO instructor training for Michigan will take place June 6 through June 12, 2016. The training is an intensive seven day, 60-hour intensive program. Dr. Jacobs is a member of the IO Michigan Theory Group and has been a trained instructor since 2010.

For general information on the program, please visit the Inside-Out Prison Exchange at insideoutcenter.org. If you are interested in learning more about regional efforts to establish IO classes and/or in attending the MI training this summer, contact Dr. Michelle Jacobs at michelle.jacobs@wayne.edu.

Photo: Julia Cuneo, Dr. Michelle R. Jacobs and Dr. Paul Draus