Prisoner Rights Activism&State

Catalog description

This course explores: (a) how race, color, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship/immigration status, sex, gender, sexual orientation/preference, age, religion, and class, among others, have influenced what social groups are more likely to be arrested and incarcerated; (b) how prisoners and other incarcerated populations in the U.S. have sought to change the conditions of their imprisonment, particularly as of the 1950s to the present; and, (c) the response of state actors and third parties (including former prisoners, prisoner’s; rights activists, family members) to their calls for support. The course is ultimately designed to familiarize students with issues pertaining to the emergence of, and historical functions played, by penal and other institutions of mass incarceration created by local, state and federal agencies in the U.S. (e.g., private and public jails and prisons, immigration detentions centers, Indian reservations, concentration camps). The course, of necessity, problematizes the concepts of crime and punishment and analyzes conservative, liberal, and radical theories of crime causation and punishment. Required Videos (e.g., documentaries, films, news programs, late night talk shows, and other visual sources) will complement Required Readings. Students are expected to be in class when required videos are shown. Guest lecturers may be invited to address the class. Restriction: not first year undergraduates. Offered regularly.