Oregon Inside-Out in the news

As the final class project, students from Shaul Cohen's "Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland" class wrote articles about the course and course content for a variety of newsletters and newspapers, including local Eugene news and organizations in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland.  We're really excited to post some of the articles here, and to share how this class and word about Inside-Out is spreading in the community here, and around to the other side of the world.

So here's a link to the first article published by one of our classmates.  We all felt that it was a beautiful reflection of this course, and thank Ben for his dedication and for his writing.  Check out the article here: The Register-Guard.  And check back on the blog--I have a feeling Ben and others will be doing some writing in the coming weeks. 

Ending the Culture of Street Crime and the Oregon Think Tank

The Oregon Think Tank, held at the Oregon State Penitentiary, is in its formative phase.  We currently consist of fifteen inside students; five instructors from Oregon State University, Chemeketa Community College, and the University of Oregon; Melissa Crabbe (Assistant National Director) and two outside alumni from the University of Oregon.  We are working through forming our unique identity here in the West, and are working through logistical limitations to build a more robust group of outside members. 

Although we're still a new group, we've already developed a strong sense of group unity, and have discussed several new projects we'd like to undertake in the area of educational support for the prisons in Salem, Oregon.

Two meetings ago, we discussed the article "Ending the Culture of Street Crime,"  which was co-authored by the Lifers group at Graterford Prison.  This is particularly meaningful as the authors are largely Inside-Out alumni in Pennsylvania, and we were able to interact as an alumni group in Oregon, discussing the perspectives of crime and justice in a formal, academic way.  The article has a lot to say about the potential for mentoring and cultural transformation originating within prisons to affect change on the outside.  Here in Oregon, we had a lot to say about this article: how recognizable some issues were, and how there are regional differences clear in patterns of crime and justice between East and West coasts. 

Many Inside-Out classes use this article to jump-start discussions of crime and justice, but for some of us this was a first read.  I was truly inspired by the model for high-quality research and writing, as well as the commitment this indicated to scholarship and justice work for the Graterford group. 

I encourage everyone to read the article, published by The Prison Journal, and found here: "Ending the Culture of Street Crime." 

Have other alumni read this article in their classes?  I would be very interested in other opinions of this article, whether based on regional differences or other perspectives in criminal justice reform. 

And, above all, I am anxious to hear more about what this means about bridges between the inside and outside: whether that be in scholarship, mentorship, discussion, publishing, or efforts at social change. 

Negotiating Offensive Language at the Serbu Book Club

April 13, 2011 – Serbu Book Club Meeting 2

*Disclaimer: what follows contains offensive language.

My fellow University of Oregon students and I made special preparations for our second spring term session of Book Club at Serbu Youth Detention Center this afternoon after deciding not to censor the word ‘nigger.’

We (U of O students) selected the play adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird as our primary reading material for this term because, among other reasons, it is concerned with justice. For decades it has confronted its readers with questions like ‘what is fair?’ ‘Ought communities extend fair treatment to everyone, even those whom they believe they are unlike, and those they are afraid of?’ In responding to these questions and listening to others answer them in a group setting like ours, we draw out our own values and give extensive consideration to those of others. This pedagogy is the subject of Values Clarification, another foundational text for our curriculum this term, recommended to us by Lori Pompa and Melissa Crabbe, National Director and Assistant National Director of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, respectively.

When I sat down to scan the theatrical adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, I came upon the word ‘nigger’ almost immediately. On page two a character referred to only as “BOY’S VOICE”—“calling from offstage”, the blocking reads—asks Scout tauntingly, “Hey, Scout – how come your daddy defends niggers?”.

For me, reading that word silently is always as jarring as hearing it spoken aloud. Few words connote such an egregious history of hate, harm, tension, and generally shameful human interaction.

I established very quickly that Harper Lee’s intention in including it was unequivocal. Personally assured of this, I sought the advice of Joe, one of the two schoolteachers for Phoenix, the treatment program housed under the umbrella of the Serbu Youth Detention Center facility, and the unit where Book Club has been held since its inception last summer. We are reading the play aloud as a group during our sessions because, among other reasons, every student will be sufficiently acquainted with the segment to be discussed that day; ideally, no one will be less capable of participation in the event that they fall behind or jump ahead in the reading (previously an issue).

With Joe’s blessing and the support of my U of O peers, I walked into the Phoenix unit this afternoon prepared and nervous to inform the Phoenix youth of our intent to read the word ‘nigger’ aloud as it is printed in Harper Lee’s text. After a few introductory activities and a short break, I gathered myself and read from the notes I had written about race, racism and its treatment in the play. Here is what I said to our group:

I am going to say an extremely offensive word. Bear with me while I explain why.

The word ‘nigger’ is used repeatedly in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Since we will be reading this play aloud, some if not all of us will be speaking this word, and all of us will hear it spoken aloud. Despite its offensiveness, the U of O students have decided to speak this word as it appears in the play rather than substituting it for “the n-word” or “black”.

The word ‘nigger’ has historically been used to refer to people with dark skin, as we all know. I can tell you with certainty that scientifically (biologically), there is no such thing as race. Despite what many people believe, no true scientist has ever discovered that members of what many people call the ‘black race’ or the ‘white race’ all share a single characteristic: physical, chemical, or behavioral. There is more variation or difference within what people call the black race than between what people call the black race and white race. It is very likely that two people with white skin are actually more different than an African-American and her ‘white’ friend.

Race is socially constructed. This means that people think and talk about a group of people that they believe act similarly, look similarly, share ancestors, or historically live in a geographic region, either because it is convenient or because they do not understand that there are no such things as scientific races. Sometimes people group many people together so that they can be good to them, but too often in history, people have used ideas of race to hate and harm other groups of people. Racism is beliefs and practices that harm members of some races and not others.

We have decided to speak the word ‘nigger’ aloud when reading the play because in “To Kill a Mockingbird”, using the word ‘nigger’ is presented as unacceptable behavior. There is no doubt that Harper Lee, the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, includes the word so that we can begin to understand how strongly it was present in the nineteenth and twentieth century social attitudes in the American South, and that it was used by racist, ignorant people who stood fearfully against the rights of African-Americans. Characters that Harper Lee intends for us to disapprove of say ‘nigger’. As we will see in reading it, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a powerful denunciation of racism and fear-motivated hatred of people we do not understand. In America, the word ‘nigger’ has been used and is still used by people with lighter skin as an expression of their fearful, hateful denial of the dignity of their fellow human beings. We are comfortable speaking this word aloud because we trust that everyone in this room respects the seriousness of racism and the oppression of ‘black’ people in American history.

To substitute ‘nigger’ for an inoffensive word like the phrase ‘the n-word’ when reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” doesn’t seem right. “To Kill a Mockingbird” was written in part to give readers an account of the viciousness of racism that has existed in the United States of America for too many years. Part of capturing this reality is including the use of the word ‘nigger’ in our study of it. If we remove that word, we rob ourselves of a truer sense of the injustice carried out on our own soil. Aren’t we obligated to understand the experience of those who suffered and continue to suffer from fearful, hateful racism as much as we possibly can? Without a true sense of their experience, in which racism and the word ‘nigger’ has been so present, how can we begin to make racism a shameful thing of the past?

I scanned the circle of students before me. It was clear that I had captured everyone’s attention. I added:

If anyone feels at all threatened or uncomfortable with our group using this word in our meetings, or if you don’t mind others using the word when reading from the play but prefer not to use it yourself, simply tell one of the UO students or the whole group and we will work together to find a less offensive substitute.

Before I could finish asking whether there were “questions or concerns about using offensive language as it is written in the play,” two of the Phoenix youth raised their hands with urgency and distress in their faces. I nodded at one of them, whom I’ll call Dan (from this point on the names of Phoenix youth have been changed to honor their confidentiality). I can’t possibly recreate what was said and by whom with the accuracy that I would like to. I have done my best to integrally recount our conversation:

“I don’t feel comfortable with using that word at all, honestly,” Dan said. “I froze up the second time you said it. I’ve had experience with it in the past and I’m just done with it. It’s not cool to say. I’m not OK with it.” He was right.

I called on the other Phoenix student, John (and by now at least three more Phoenix students had raised their hands), who agreed with Dan and expressed the same decided unease with using the term in our readings of the play. Sensing that more Phoenix youth concurred with their peers yet wanting to at least suspend their total dismissal of the idea, I reminded the group again of the difference between using the term in historical fiction to explicitly represent a racist character, and speaking oneself of another with the intention of hurting him/her.

Kehala added her concern with the ethicality of manipulating a work of art by censoring it.

Other Phoenix students expressed that the offensive word in question is “not cool” and “hurtful”. Dan raised his hand again and suggested that an appropriate substitute might be “nigga”, explaining that even between Caucasian friends this an acceptable greeting likable to ‘homey’ or ‘bro’. Jenna, a U of O student, pointed out that using a ‘buddy-buddy’ substitute doesn’t come close to doing justice to the hateful word itself, and thus would only obscure it.

Adam, a Phoenix student, addressed his Phoenix peers directly. “I don’t want to call you drama queens,” he said, his eyes skipping over the faces of U of O students and focusing on Phoenix ones as he leaned back in his chair, “but I’ve heard this word thrown around here [in the Phoenix unit] before and I haven’t seen it bother you guys. Why does it bother you now? It’s just a play.”

Dan’s face flashed red again. “Part of our treatment here,” he reminded his Phoenix peers (and us), “is to create a safe place. Saying words like that make other people uncomfortable.”

John raised his hand again. “There was a time when I threw that word around, when I said it without thinking about it. I’ve gotten a lot better and I don’t want to go back to that. I can’t go back to that.”

Although John shared some his peer’s concerns, there was little doubt by this point that the only person in the room who still felt adamant about our not saying the word ‘nigger’ aloud was Dan. I didn’t expect him to budge from his position. I didn’t want him to, either. As a facilitator, my goal had shifted from advocating that we read the play as it was written to keeping Dan from feeling excluded at all costs.

“Dan,” I said, “I know you feel uncomfortable saying it. That’s fine. Do you feel uncomfortable hearing other people read it aloud?”

“Yeah, I do,” Dan replied. “I’ll go to my room rather than be in here and hear it. I can’t deal with that. I grew up in a family where I heard ‘fucking niggers’ too much. I want to put that behind me. I’m done with that.”

Matt, a UO student, stood with Dan. “If Dan feels like he has to leave then I won’t feel comfortable being here either because as long as any one person in the group is uncomfortable, I do not want to be a part of this.”

James, who was sitting two seats from Dan, raised his hand quickly. “This is a safe space,” he said, looking around our circle. “We know each other and we trust each other. We can handle it. That word is part of life. I don’t want to sound harsh, but sometimes you just have to suck it up.”

It was time to make sure that Dan knew that he would remain included no matter what he position he held in this conversation.

“Dan,” I said, “we would never use a word that would force you to leave this room. How ridiculous would that be, to exclude a person just to express our disgust with a word that has historically been used with the intent of excluding people? I can personally assure you that as long as there is a person in this group who doesn’t feel comfortable hearing that word, it will not be spoken by anyone in this room. That said, we have got to come up with a substitute for it as we read the play. Ideas?”

“We could just say ‘the n-word’ every time we read it,” one of the Phoenix students suggested.

“What about saying ‘negro’?” Arwen suggested. “That word isn’t as offensive but has a similar place in racism.” She flipped through the play in her lap. “It looks like that is another way that characters use to refer to blacks anyway.”

It was a thoughtful suggestion in that ‘negro’ would seem to point to the history of injustice in the United States more effectively than the exceedingly euphemistic ‘n-word’ stand-in. The problem with using ‘negro’ as a substitute, I pointed out to the group, is that more passive racialists (not racists) like Scout and Jem use it to refer to blacks that they support, such as their housekeeper, Calpurnia. Equating the word ‘negro’ with ‘nigger’, then, would equate by extension the disparate characters that speak them, blurring the crucial distinction between racist and racialist individuals. Clarifying these ambiguities is precisely our intention in reading this play.

Ted, one of Book Club’s founding U of O students and an experienced discussion facilitator, chimed in. “I still take issue with the idea of substituting a phrase that doesn’t have meaning for one that has tremendous meaning. I don’t think that is something to be comfortable with, either.”

A number of Phoenix students raised their hands and one by one voiced their agreement with Ted’s comment. As they responded, I watched Dan. He was listening but looked obstinate as ever.

Kyla, a U of O student, raised her hand. “I think we can say ‘the n-word’ because we can trust that everyone will think about the meaning of the word. Even if they won’t be speaking it aloud they will be reading it on the page. So, its significance will be done some justice, won’t it?”

What a quiet but exceptionally astute Phoenix student named Andrea said next stunned me for its thoughtfulness. “Dan has an issue with us saying this word,” she began, “and we want to respect that. But Ted has an issue with us not saying it, and we don’t want to exclude him, either.”

“I appreciate that,” Ted said. “But hearing an offensive word is more offensive than not being able to say one, so I’m fine with making Dan’s discomfort our priority, as that’s clearly more of an issue.”

“OK,” said Phoebe, a U of O student, recognizing the opportunity to move forward. “Then I think that at this point the focus has to be on what word to use instead, because we’ve decided we won’t say that word.”

“Do people feel OK with saying ‘n-word’?” I asked. “Obviously if something more descriptive comes up we will use that instead. But for now . . .?”

I look up at the clock for the first time since we sent the Phoenix kids out for their five-minute break at 2:30. It was 3:00. We had been discussing for thirty minutes and only had ten minutes left.

“Well,” I said, laughing, “looks like we won’t get to the play today. I am so glad we’ve had this conversation. I am so impressed with the fact that we were willing to discuss this so openly, and so respectfully, all within the guidelines for discussion we laid out last week. Since we have ten minutes, why don’t we each say something about how we are feeling now, after this conversation?”

Jenna said: “if Phoenix students want more information and discussion on race and racism, we could provide it.”

John, who was sitting directly to my right, turned to me. “Is there anything you want to add, Alex? We’ve all said what we thought while you listened.” We all laughed. It was funny and playful the way he stepped into the role of facilitator, if for a moment. I thanked him for looking out for me.

He continued: “I don’t want to say you have balls, because that’s inappropriate. But you have cajones for bringing this up with us. I think a lot of people would’ve been scared. I could tell you were nervous when you talked about race at the beginning, but you were also really brave.”

“I appreciate that, John,” I began. “I wish that reading this word as it was written was something that everyone was comfortable with. But I think Dan is brave,” I said, looking across the circle to address him directly. “What if you had been afraid to speak up even though you felt so strongly about this? You would’ve sat here suffering quietly while we went about things totally oblivious to how you felt. You would have been excluded from our group. Thank you for not letting that happen.”

It was 3:10 and we were out of time. It was fitting that Dan had the last word. “I’ll keep an open mind about this,” he said, “but thanks for understanding that I just don’t feel comfortable with this right now. And sorry for cussing earlier.”

This was a remarkable day at Serbu. No, we didn’t get to start the play, and will have to move quickly to get back on schedule next week. The truth remains that I and other U of O students would prefer to respect the integrity of the work and use it was written, especially because Harper Lee’s intent in including offensive language is so explicit.

Here is what did take place:

- A Phoenix student declared Book Club a safe space.

- Phoenix students were receptive and protective of each other’s sensitivities.

- Phoenix students pushed one another to constructively question the limits of their personal comfort, and backed off respectfully when exceeding those limits felt unwelcome.

- Phoenix students defended their Phoenix peers’ sensitivities.

- Phoenix students advocated for U of O students’ sensitivities.

- Phoenix students encouraged U of O students to participate more in the discussion!

Best of all, as Kehala pointed out with impeccable timing towards the end of our conversation, the group spoke boldly and listened generously. After all of this direct discussion, no one was left feeling excluded.

It is my sense that for the first time in my three terms at Phoenix, this is a palpably united, self-supporting community. And this is only week two of nine. From this point we prepare to embark for seven more weeks with this exceptional group of Phoenix youth.

- Alex, April 13, 2011

*Update (5/1/11): A week later, at our next session, Dan raised his hand within the first five minutes and said that he'd considered it more and decided he felt comfortable reading and speaking the word as it appears on the page. With his blessing we are now reading the play without censoring it.

Second annual Northwest regional Hub meeting

Over fifteen alumni from Oregon State University, Chemeketa Community College, and the University of Oregon joined Inside-Out instructors and community members for the second annual Northwest Regional Hub meeting! There is some incredible energy growing in Oregon, with a fast-expanding base of participants and ideas. Folks in Oregon are hoping to create a real network of students, working on existing projects and creating new ones.

Some specific ideas coming out of the Hub:

- Develop and share templates for past experiences

- Hold alumni training for facilitation and project creation

- Create some regional structure for collaboration

- Create an art project with folks on the inside

- Work with a local post-release gardening project

- Publicize Inside-Out regionally

- Recruit new instructors and students

- Start new book-club projects in Portland and (maybe) Salem

Hopefully these ideas will get off the ground quickly! In the meantime, there's a lot to celebrate from having all these alumni in one room, building the movement in Oregon.

Think Tank established in Oregon

Announcing...(drum roll)... the foundation of a Think Tank at the Oregon State Penitentiary! Our first official meeting was held yesterday, February 20th. Lori Pompa, Inside-Out National Director joined us at OSP to begin community building and project planning for the group. So far, we plan to meet every other Sunday night, and will consist of approximately fifteen Inside alumni, plus the seven Oregon instructors, and several Outside alumni from the various participating schools. Melissa Crabbe, the Assistant National Director, will be our leader and facilitator for these meetings.

We already have an extremely dynamic and engaged group for this project. Most of the Inside alumni have been involved in at least two Inside-Out classes. Many are working on their Associates Degrees through Chemeketa Community College, and will be enrolling in Degrees of Freedom for the Bachelors Degrees when we get that established.

Outside students have to go through the institutional volunteer training in order to participate. Although six were in attendance on the 19th, only those with volunteer badges will be able to work with us in a consistent way, because Sundays there won't be escorts available for visitors. But we hope to soon have alumni from OSU, Chemeketa, and UO participating.

Although we hope to put together a uniquely Oregon Think Tank, with its own projects and identity, we are taking our inspiration and leadership from the Think Tank at Graterford. We hope to hold an Inside-Out Instructor Training in December of 2011, with Lori Pompa's help and guidance.

With all that's happening nationally, and the Oregon local projects, it is essential to create a group of inside directors of Inside-Out in Oregon. I can't wait to see where this will go, and what will happen next! 

If you are in Oregon and interested in learning more, please contact us at insideout@uoregon.edu

Directors and Genres Report and Reflection

This term I have the great joy of participating in Film Directors and Genres, taught by Bill Cadbury and Katy Zilverburg at Oregon State Correctional Institution. I graduated from University of Oregon in June, and during my last term there I took Bill’s Ethics and Aesthetics in Film course, which was also held at OSCI, so this is my second time around participating in Inside-Out. My first Inside-Out experience was amazing (one which requires more space for proper reflection than I have here) and although I was grateful to be given the opportunity to participate, it was also bittersweet to find such an amazing program during my last term in school. When I got an email saying that they decided that they’d like a few alumni to participate in this year’s classes, I emailed Bill right away and told him I’d do whatever I needed to do to stay involved.

During our first class we spent a lot of time meeting our classmates; we introduced the person sitting next to us to the class and then did a wagon wheel exercise, which served as an ice breaker and a good excuse to talk about our favorite music, books and why we’re taking the class. We spent the last portion of the class discussing Dirty Harry, the first film we watched for the Clint Eastwood unit we’re doing. There are 12 outside students and 13 inside students in this class; I’m the only alumni from the outside group, but nine of the inside students are guys who were in my class last year, and I was really excited to see my old classmates and friends again as well as getting to know my new classmates, both inside and out.

Each week, Bill asks us to write a one page reflection on the previous week’s class, so that we can get our thoughts in order and provide feedback, so for the past week I have been mulling over what I wanted to say about our first class. I found that my feelings are best summed up by a conversation I had via email with Katie, another experienced Inside-Out participant. I wrote “even though we’ve only had one class, I can tell that this term is going to be a good chance to continue learning and probe deeper into the things that my last experience sparked in me or brought to my attention. It’s also been fun to come back post-graduation as a repeat student; I’m glad to be writing papers again and wrestling with all of the various issues that come up in discussion but also feel like I have something more to offer this time.” I asked if her experience coming back a second time was similar, and she responded by saying “yes to everything you said about class--how familiar and different it is to be in the classroom again with a different mix of people, and the sense of giving more because of a comfort level and past reflection.”

While I recognize what a unique and special opportunity it is to come back for a second class, I don’t feel like I have to spend so much time adjusting to the novelty of being in a class inside of a prison. I feel like I have more to contribute this time around, because so many of these ideas have been stewing in my head and heart for the last several months. Beyond that, my feelings were mostly enthusiasm over getting to see my inside friends again as well as meeting all of the new people (inside and out) and a bit of anxiety about brushing up on my rusty paper-writing skills (even after six months, I’m feeling a bit out of practice!). I caught myself feeling like none of these things were profound enough to really get at the heart of it, but I’ve realized that what may seem like everyday thoughts or feelings about the experience perhaps reveal the depth to which I care about the ideas, people and experience I’m having: enough to let them become normal.

Participating in a second class is making me see with fresh eyes that that really is the magic of Inside-Out. Most of us come in not quite sure of what to expect, but finish the term changed, not because we experienced something unheard of, but because we experienced something so unexpectedly normal: genuine conversation and learning (which, on second thought, maybe isn’t so normal after all…). Inside-Out teaches us that there aren’t many things that could prevent that kind of genuine interaction if we are willing to give it an honest go and it made me realize that even though that type of interaction might be rare, it doesn’t have to be.

2010 Final Class Project by Maddy

When my professor for my “Literature and Ethics” class through Inside-Out asked for three “outside” student volunteers to compile our class anthology on our own time, my hand shot straight up. No way was I about to let this incredible project for a class that had impacted me so profoundly be completed without my expert opinion. I needed to be a part of this.

A week later the two other outside student volunteers and I met to discuss how we wanted to put together the anthology and the overall message that we wanted this project to represent. All three of us were extremely excited and started listing off ideas we had based on some of the anthologies we’d seen from other classes. As soon as we started looking through the material that our classmates had submitted, we fell silent. The poems, art, letters to the class, response papers, even the crosswords cut out from old newspapers and inspirational quotes copied down by students were so overwhelmingly moving we didn’t know what to say. In that moment I realized what I should have known all along: This project was so not about me. It was about the beautiful, diverse community that had been meeting and learning from each other for the past 10 weeks and I was so lucky that I had been a part of it.

“This is all just so human,” said one of my compiling partners. There was our theme. To represent this, we included a page in the anthology with a photo from our class on which we had every student sign during our last class together. Next to it, we included a page with painted handprints – our reminder to ourselves that while we are all unique individuals, we are also all human and together we had created something wondrous in the form of this anthology and the memories of our class.

In our “Letter From the Editors” – a detail we decided we wanted to include to make sure our classmates understood how honored we were to be able to put this project together – we wrote: “To our classmates, never have we experienced a more dynamic classroom environment. Never have we experienced a more fervent engagement and discussion. Never have we experienced a text come alive through so many sincere, unique, and intimate student contributions. To say ‘I’ve learned’ does not do our class justice. We embarked on a journey that began with uncertainty, nervousness, and excitement and ended with growth, clarity, friendship, and respect. It has been an honor compiling your thoughts, emotions, and experiences of this journey. We have been truly moved by all of your work. The most heartfelt thanks.”

Submitted by Maddy in Oregon

What's New in Oregon: More on the Alumni Book Club at Serbu Youth Detention Center

We wanted to take a moment to reflect on and share with you an overview of an exciting program happening in Oregon.

The University of Oregon's Inside-Out Alumni Book Club at Serbu Youth Detention Center was piloted by a group of alumni during the summer of 2010 at Serbu, Lane County's juvenile detention facility for youth ages 12-17 years.

The book club has proven to be a welcome chance to experience more of the euphoria of the encounter that is at the core of Inside-Out.

By all accounts, the pilot program was a true success. Four Inside-Out Alumni worked with approximately ten youth, reading The Ultimate Spider-Man, a classic comic book. Using the book as jumping-off point, the group discussed topics as varied as responsibility, teen relationships, trust, gang violence, capitalism, and the makings of a hero. The reports from all participants were very positive. For the youth it was a chance to add an activity to their days, to read an interesting book, and to talk with new people. For the alumni, it was a chance to create a new program, engage in dialogue, and learn from the youth about facilitating a classroom. It was obvious that some of the youth have never had any kind of creative space in their own learning, and to be asked their opinion and encouraged to disagree has an experience-expanding effect.

We learned that working independently of a professor and starting a new program is both difficult and extremely rewarding. We developed a very positive working relationship with Serbu's staff and leadership, and have abundant and growing support for this program at the University, which purchased the books for the class.

During the University's fall term of 2010, beginning in September and wrapping up in December, we enjoyed the participation of twelve youth and eight Inside-Out Alumni. Prior to the kick off of the term's book club, Melissa Crabbe, Inside-Out's Assistant National Director, held a second Inside-Out facilitator training for the alumni participating in the Friday club; this was a fabulous opportunity to work through ideal practices for initiation of discussion as well as to trouble shoot issues that arose during the pilot program. Book club meetings took place every Friday in the Phoenix unit of Serbu, a dormitory-style unit for a co-ed group of 16 youth. Together, we read Calvin and Hobbes, a comic book by Bill Watterson unique for its clever mix of humor and profundity.

During fall term, only two I/O alumni were able to participate who had been involved over the summer. Ted and Katie, who piloted the program during the summer, co-facilitated the fall session, and enjoyed the enthusiasm of the group's new participants. Five of the youth who participated during the summer rejoined the club for fall, and only one summer participant chose not to rejoin the group (the others were released). The more balanced numbers were great: we did wagon wheels, held small group discussions, and overall had a much more involved and integrated feeling in the room with the balance of youth and I/O Alumni. Further, we feel that a nearly 2:1 ration (youth to alumni) is critical to maintaining emphasis on equal participation and avoidance alumni over-participation (simply teaching to the youth rather than participating with them).

The Inside-Out class formula is the model for the book club, in which open and enthusiastic college students join up with incarcerated youth to enjoy and learn with each other. Meetings are full of debate and discussion about issues topical and profound. While a plan for the session is always mapped out by alumni ahead of time, some of the most memorable and sweetest moments occurred unexpectedly. One day, the plan for class time was met with relative disinterest from the youth. There wasn't much response to the preconceived discussion questions, when, suddenly, the conversation broke wide open. One of the Serbu youths mentioned his take on the 2009 film Avatar, which the Serbu unit had watched on DVD the night before. Just like that, a surge of energy had electrified the stagnant discussion. Each and every youth and alumni was jumping to share his/her take on the film, and we rolled with the unforeseen turn in focus, happily devoting the remaining session time to what had become a lively, open discussion.

Midway through the term, we had a half-hour discussion about the ideas of "fate" and "destiny," inspired by Calvin and Hobbes. We talked about free will, and about the possibly contradictory idea that everything happens for a reason. The youth were eloquent on both counts, reflecting both a desire to feel control over their actions and a need for the security of a guiding plan to life. The level of dialogue, consistent with our own Inside-Out experiences, was much higher than what is often achieved in a college classroom. One Friday, we discussed war and peace, our tendency to turn violence into entertainment, and the damage this has on individual lives. It was moving that people were so willing to make themselves a bit vulnerable by sharing and asking questions (the comic dealt with Mutually Assured Destruction and the Cold War, which, coming into the discussion, the youth knew nothing about).

In the book club, we seek to set a positive example for youth and to create a fun and stimulating environment—a distinctly different feel from that of the school classroom as these youth know it. As alumni, we go to Serbu to share our company with the youth and to enjoy theirs. We are not interested in posing as instructors, psychologists, or social workers. Like the Serbu youth, we are students, and we just happen to be a little further along towards an education and stable life. We've learned a lot about the differences of working with youth as opposed to the adults in Inside-Out classes, and will continue to consider how to best design the program to meet everyone's needs.

The Inside-Out Alumni Book Club reconvenes in conjunction with the University's winter term on Friday, January 21st. We are eager to get things going, this time with a larger group of youth (16) and a slightly updated format. Reading a longer work of literature like Calvin and Hobbes posed a few problems. Because of the minimal availability of intriguing reading material in the Phoenix unit, many of the youth tore through the book, likely reading around the clock, within a week of our distributing copies to them. We loved the enthusiasm, don't get us wrong! Unfortunately, the reading rate of the youth outpaced that necessary for focused discussion. This term, we plan to serialize readings by distributing two or three short articles weekly offering varying viewpoints on a predetermined current issue. Book club meetings will consist of discussion and organized debate beginning with basis in the readings and finally extending in any direction it will. This format of serialized reading and the increased encouragement of participation through debate is intended to make contribution as accessible and comfortable as possible for all involved. In addition, we are excited about our plans to organize a closing ceremony, warmly celebrating the participation of all involved, for the end of the term.

If anyone has suggestions for material, projects, or activities, or further inquiries about our experience, please contact us at insideout@uoregon.edu.

- Alex P., University of Oregon
Interning with Inside-Out National Program

First day of class for Institutional Inequalities through UO/OSP

Yesterday was the first full class meeting for Professor Ellen Scott's Inside-Out sociology class at the Oregon State Penitentiary. The class is entitled Institutional Inequalities and Individual Lives, and is focusing on the sociological processes of social injustice and the process of structural inequality. This is Professor Scott's first class, and I'm working with her as a graduate teaching fellow for the class, serving as a teaching assistant and helping with the logistics of university and prison relationships.

Our first day meeting together was wonderful. Our students, inside and outside, are a fabulous group with diverse experiences and interests, who are already bringing profound insights into our group dynamic and the subject material. I can't wait to see what unfolds in the course of the class.

This is my third Inside-Out experience. Watching the group on the first day, I was able to witness the process by which our individuals became a group. The nervousness that had been expressed on both sides was quickly eliminated. The Wagon Wheel became somewhat unruly, with conversations lingering beyond the instruction to move on to new seats. There was laughter and the dynamic feel to the dialogue that emerges when people have a genuine interest in one another. Joksters emerged, as did those who were focused tightly on the sociological theories presented. Within the first hour, we had all spoken with one another, and were developing the baselines of friendships through common and divergent interests and experiences.

Half of the inside students have taken at least one Inside-Out class before. Because of the concentration of Inside-Out professors in Oregon, and their choice to teach a variety of different courses, students have enrolled multiple times, and are accruing university credit and experience. One outside student, in addition to myself, is also an alumni of a previous Inside-Out class. The returning students eased the first class somewhat, through their comfort with the surroundings, but also through their honest expression of their nervousness and the depth of the experience to come. For the new students, the honesty of the experienced class members seemed to open up a space for greater confidence from the first moment.

By the end of our first three-hour meeting, we had covered a lot of ground. We got to know each other through the Wagon Wheel and "Two Truths and a Lie" icebreakers. We introduced one another to the group as a whole, telling a bit of what we'd learned in the icebreaking activities. We established our group rules for dialogue in a collaborative way. We then spent about forty-five minutes discussing the text read for the week: Jay McLeod's Ain't No Making It. The social theory and ethnographic studies produced in the text opened an elevated and engaged conversation about our social positions and the differing theories of class in the United States.

Over the next eight weeks we will discuss the experiences of our fellow Americans who suffer from poverty, a lack of health insurance, the inability to escape the lower class status inherited from their parents, and the situation of those who are incarcerated. I have every faith that our class will tackle these difficult topics with respect and enthusiasm, and that we will arrive at our graduation ceremony with a new idea of our own lives and relationships.

Leaving OSP yesterday, I felt a great surge of hope and inspiration. Our students were shaking hands, wishing each other well, and joking as they left the classroom. Those of us in blue and those of us with visitor nametags were a single group for a moment, leaving as students to return to our various routines. A new cohort of Inside-Out student has been formed, with all the promise and pain that this entails. I can hardly wait to see what will happen next.

Inside-Out Alumni taking second classes

There are two Inside-Out classes being offered this term through the University of Oregon.  Both classes have inside and outside students who have participated in other Inside-Out classes in the past. 

This year, eight professors from four colleges and universities in Oregon will offer Inside-Out classes.  They are being held at the Oregon State Penitentiary, the Oregon State Correctional Institution, and Coffee Creek Correctional Facility through Portland State University, Oregon State University, Chemeketa Community College, and the University of Oregon.  Classes are being offered in sociology, literature, film, and geography.

Because of the variety of courses offered and the number of participating institutions, students on the inside and the outside have the opportunity of experiencing Inside-Out again.  Their presence in the classrooms offers the opportunity to add insights and confidence in the setting, as well as allowing students to broaden their educational experiences. 

In addition to these students, two alumni are serving as teaching assistants in Inside-Out classes.  Hopefully there will be more leadership roles developed in the future.

Inside-Out in Oregon Campus Publication

This Inside-Out Program in Oregon received some excellent press this week in the magazine Oregon Quarterly.  The article includes testimony from James, one of the most involved Inside alumni at the Oregon State Penitentiary. 

Check out the article on pages 16-17 here!

If your local Inside-Out classes have received media coverage, please let us know so we can publicize it!  Email us a link at nationalinsideoutalumni@gmail.com, or post a comment here. 

Chatty Cathy Gets Turned Inside-Out

Sure, I can tell anyone my favorite smell or a movie star I wouldn't mind portraying me in the biography of my life. Orange blossoms and Natalie Portman. See? I don't even know who you are and I'm fine telling you that.

Ask me what it means to forgive someone, ask me about someone I haven't forgiven, ask me about someone I need to ask forgiveness from? And the normally Chatty Cathy in me gets a little less chatty.

Usually, that is.

Unless, for some reason, it's an Inside-Out program and the people surrounding me are participants of a Creative Writing Workshop at Oregon State Penitentiary.

Then it's a different case entirely.

Then we're beginning a day-long conversation and we don't have time to waste on surface-level stuff. We're diving in without a moment to lose.

We were blessed to have Sister Helen Prejean with us for the morning. She shared her own experiences with writing, forgiveness and of course, Cajun jokes.

The energy of the room swelled with her presence and the ease of her conversation and the cadence of her speech warmed our hearts like a good dish of jambalaya.

We sat, inspired and touched, listening to her speak, and then we got to our own writings.

The sharing that followed was a church service in the holiest of temples. Who knew? At a prison. People read their pain out loud. Read their doubt. Read their brokenness, their struggles, their anger.

And in that room on the top floor of the maximum security prison in Oregon, there was peace.

Laughter. Joy. Sharing. And who can say? But I wouldn't doubt that there was quite a bit of hurt that started healing too.

Inside-Out gets me every time. Takes my Chatty Cathy nature and turns it, well, inside out. I'm not just moving my mouth to fill the quiet, but I'm listening attentively and speaking openly with my fellow students.

Ask me about forgiveness? And I'll tell you to take an Inside-Out class.

UO Book Club fall term

We are now halfway through the fall term Inside-Out Alumni Book Club with the youth at Serbu.  This time around we have twelve youth and eight Inside-Out Alumni!  We are reading Calvin and Hobbes, and the term is going amazingly well.  Melissa Crabbe held a second Inside-Out facilitator training for the alumni who are participating, and this was a fabulous opportunity to work through best practices and trouble shooting, in addition to gaining the skills Melissa was teaching.  We are becoming quite the team of alumni together.

Only two I/O alumni were able to participate who had been involved over the summer.  Ted and myself are therefore leading the group, with the new participants as extremely active members of the group.  Five of the youth are participating again from the summer, and only one summer participant chose not to rejoin the group (the others were released).  The more balanced numbers are great: we have done wagon wheels, held small group discussions, and overall had a much more involved and integrated feeling in the room with the balance of youth and I/O Alumni. 

Two weeks ago, we had a half-hour discussion of the ideas of "fate" and "destiny," inspired (of course) by Calvin and Hobbes.  We talked about free will, and about the possibly contradictory idea that everything happens for a reason.  The youth were eloquent on both counts, reflecting both a desire to feel control over their actions and a need for the security of a guiding plan to life.  The level of dialogue, consistent with our own Inside-Out experiences, was much higher than what is often achieved in a college classroom.  On Friday, we discussed war and peace, our tendency to turn violence into entertainment, and the damage this has on individual lives.  People were so willing to be vulnerable, and to ask questions (the comic dealt with Mutually Assured Destruction and the Cold War, which the youth knew nothing about).

We'll see what comes up in the comics next.  I'm hoping to have a conversation about bullying sometime in the next couple of weeks.  I'm also hoping develop a final project, hopefully to include some comic strip writing and drawing of our own. 

If anyone has suggestions for material, projects, or activities, I would love to hear them.  In the meantime, expect more updates soon!

Katie D, University of Oregon

Oregon Book Club a success!

This summer's Alumni Book Club pilot project was a true success.  Four Inside-Out Alumni worked with approximately ten youth, reading The Ultimate Spider-Man.  The group discussed topics as varied as responsibility, teen relationships, trust, gang violence, capitalism, and the makings of a hero.  The reports from all participants were very positive: for the youth it was a chance to add an activity to their days, to read an interesting book, and to talk with new people.  For the alumni, it was a chance to create a new program, engage in dialogue, and learn from the youth about teaching and facilitating.

We learned that working independently of a professor and starting a new program is both difficult and extremely rewarding.  We have developed a very positive working relationship with the staff and leadership of the institution there, and have abundant and growing support for this program at the University, which purchased the books for the class.  We learned a lot about the differences of working with youth as opposed to the adults in Inside-Out classes, and will continue to learn how to best design the program to meet everyone's needs.

Most important, for me, was a chance to get back into the classroom in an Inside-Out format.  I love digging deep meaning out of a simple storyline, and inviting others to respond in kind.  It is obvious that some of the youth have never had any kind of creative space in their own learning, and to be asked their opinion and encouraged to disagree is a novel thing.

We will begin the book club again in October, to run for eight weeks.  We hope to have a larger number of alumni participants, and to generally improve the program.

Please comment with any questions or suggestions!

Alumni Training held at the UO

In preparation for the Serbu book club project, five Inside-Out alumni at the University of Oregon participated in a mini facilitation training hosted by Melissa Crabbe, Inside-Out Assistant National Director.

Over the course of two meetings, we learned basics of group fascilitation and discussed many of the techniques, questions, and potential problems that arise when conducting Inside-Out-style programs. We brainstormed issues that might arise through working with youth instead of adults on the inside, and worked together to troubleshoot our classroom practices. Melissa led us in a discussion about diversity and the difficult conversations that could arise.

In addition to the practical and much-needed information we gained from our six-hour training, we also had a chance to bond as a group of leaders. Inside-Out has an incredible model of self-leadership for trainings, so that we spend most of the training session imagining potential questions or issues, and then brainstorming solutions. Melissa was the facilitator of our collective learning process, which also provided a model for our own class meetings.

As our group grows over the coming year, we hope to hold future trainings for the outside alumni to be trained in leadershp techniques and program ideology and practices. We also hope that someday in the future these trainings might be led by alumni themselves, and that the students in the trainings might eventually include the incarcerated youth who participate in our book club.

All future plans and dreams aside, we entered our first class as leaders with some practical and exciting new skills and group unity. We are so lucky that Melissa is willing and available to help us! I look forward to sharing stories of future training programs in the future.

UO book club at Serbu Juvenile Facility

The Inside-Out Alumni group at the University of Oregon has started a new Inside-Out style project: a book club at the local juvenile facility.

This summer, four UO students and ten youth met weekly for a five-week pilot project book club.  We read comic books together: the outside students identified some graphic novels appropriate for the setting, and the youth selected The Ultimate Spider-Man for the summer book.

Our discussions included topics as varied as revenge, dealing with loss, gender issues, what we would do if we had super powers, relationships, and personal responsibility.  We also used ice breakers and activities to keep everyone engaged and to facilitate the classroom experience.

This pilot project will hopefully evolve into an ongoing and permanent project.  The UO-Serbu partnership has already generated a significant amount of enthusiasm on both sides.  We hope that, in the future, we will have an equal number of inside and outside participants.

Can't wait to see where this leads!