Inside-Out Prison Exchange – A Class Like No Other
By Dawn Jeglum Bartusch, Department of Sociology and Criminology
In 1995, Professor Lori Pompa from Temple University took 15 students to a prison in Pennsylvania for a tour and conversation with incarcerated men. My colleague, Danielle Lavin-Loucks, and I have been doing similar prison tours and conversations with our Valpo classes for many years. The conversation in that Pennsylvania prison was profound, and when it ended, one of the incarcerated men asked Lori to think about expanding the conversation to an entire semester. Lori says that was an idea that “just wouldn’t let go of her,” and so the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program was born. (The Inside-Out Center | About Inside-Out).
Valpo’s first Inside-Out (IO) class was in the spring of 2014, facilitated by Amanda Zelechoski and me. From the beginning, administrators have been supportive of this class. When Amanda and I first presented the idea to the Dean and the Provost, we expected them to say, “You want to take Valpo students where for class?” But they didn’t. Instead, they supported our training, helped us buy books and supplies for the incarcerated students, and helped us think creatively about how to give college credits to the incarcerated students in the class. I’ve now taught five IO classes, and they have been my most rewarding teaching experiences at Valpo.
Here’s how IO at Valpo works. In order to facilitate an IO class, instructors must complete a week-long training, either in person or online. Faculty at Valpo have received funding for that training through several sources on campus. The class brings together 15 “outside” students from the university and 15 “inside” students who are incarcerated at Westville Correctional Facility, about 15 minutes from campus. We meet in the minimum security part of the prison for class for three hours each week. All students are carefully selected to participate in the class. They must complete an application, and be selected for an interview based on that application.
Many of the university students who have taken the IO course I facilitate are Sociology and Criminology majors or minors. The IO class gives them the opportunity to encounter the humanity of those behind bars, and compels them to wrestle with difficult questions about how we use incarceration in the U.S. today and why. Time and again, alumni of the IO class have told me that they do their work in the criminal justice system (as police officers, lawyers, probation officers, etc.) differently and with greater compassion due to what their incarcerated classmates taught them.
Incarcerated students in the class are provided with the rare opportunity to pursue college-level education. They also get to join university students in a classroom of equals, where everyone is both teacher and learner. IO is based on this core principle: “Every human being – whether he or she resides behind bars or outside prison walls – has innate worth, a story to tell, experiences to learn from, and is an important and contributing member of the community” (https://www.insideoutcenter.org). It’s wonderful to watch “inside” students find their voices when they realize that their perspectives, shaped by their lived experiences, are valued and respected in the space we share.
The most vulnerable, honest discussions I’ve facilitated in my decades as a professor have been in the prison. The first class where we bring “inside” and “outside” students together is spent mostly on carefully constructed ice-breakers. As students talk and laugh their way through them, nervousness dissipates and genuine community begins to form. It’s beautiful to watch this unfold, and it’s why I describe IO as the class that “feeds my soul.”
I’m a Sociology and Criminology professor, so the topic of my IO class is “Rethinking Crime, Justice, and Behavior from the Inside Out.” But faculty in other disciplines might teach all sorts of courses as IO classes. For example, when I taught the course with John Fantuzzo (Education), we focused on issues related to education (e.g., inequality in education, the school-to-prison pipeline).
In the fall of 2024, I will partner with Dr. Holly Buckman Cross (psychology) to offer Valpo’s 7th IO class. I’m especially excited to work with Dr. Buckman Cross in this role because she was a student in the first IO class I taught at Valpo!
I encourage faculty from around campus to consider completing the training and offering IO classes at Valpo. It has been an important recruitment tool for my department, a profound learning experience for both “inside” and “outside” students, and a deeply rewarding experience for me as a professor.
NOTE: Several years ago, Indiana cut educational programming in prisons, despite the fact that providing educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals is a key factor in reducing recidivism and re-offending. In 1994, the federal government eliminated incarcerated individuals’ access to Pell grants. That access was restored in 2020, effective in 2023. This return of Pell grants should increase the number of colleges and universities offering courses or degree programs in prisons.