The Place and Impact of Internationalization in Higher Education Prison Initiatives Highlighted in the Journal International Policies and Practices

A new article in the journal Institutional Policies and Practices examines the impact of internationalization on higher education prison initiatives and describes the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison, a collaboration between OSUN and the Bard Prison Initiative, as “an outstanding illustration of both the possibility and benefits of including internationalization aspects in higher education prison programs.”

“Internationalization in Isolation: The Place and Impact of Internationalization in Higher Education Prison Initiatives,” written by Flora Laszlo, leader of Central European University's Civic Engagement, Arts & Culture Unit, and Liviu Matei, Head of King's College London’s School of Education, Communication and Society, argues that internationalizing higher education programs based in prisons not only benefits enrolled inmates but also the university students, faculty, staff, and institutions engaged in such programs, as well as the broader community.

The article explains how the trailblazing Bard Prison Initiative’s (BPI) Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison aims to foster partnerships and knowledge transfer among higher education in prison programs in the US and around the world. The Consortium does this by providing an online framework for international practitioners to exchange their experiences and views, as well as an in-person Summer Residency Program. “In these ways, inmates enrolled in the BPI program, former inmates, but also participating Bard students and staff, become beneficiaries of an internationalization agenda,” write the authors. 

“Higher education prison initiatives…help with the reintegration of inmates into the labor market and society, reduce the rate of criminality; and also reduce the probability of new crimes that would bring offenders back into prison,” in addition to much broader social impacts, claim Laszlo and Matei.

Read the article in Institutional Policies and Practices

Post Date: August 23, 2024