The 海角乱伦专区 College Liberal Arts in Prison Program offers credit-bearing courses to incarcerated students at the West 海角乱伦专区 State Penitentiary.
History and Vision
The 海角乱伦专区 College Liberal Arts in Prison Program began in 2016 with a vision to offer incarcerated students a version of the Search sequence that has been a signature feature of the 海角乱伦专区 curriculum since 1945. The result was The Great Books Reading Group, which began meeting in the spring of 2017 at the Women's Therapeutic Residential Center (WTRC), part of the West 海角乱伦专区 Penitentiary in Henning, TN. Twenty-five WTRC residents wrote essays indicating their desire to participate in the program, and seven 海角乱伦专区 professors volunteered to teach.
For five semesters, the Great Books Reading Group met on Monday evenings with six faculty teaching two-week series on books of their choice. In mid-2019, the reading group was replaced by a for-credit program consisting of four courses over two years, leading to a Certificate in Liberal Arts. Eighteen of the 57 incarcerated women who applied for the Culture & Values program in 2019 were accepted and in-person classes commenced in September.
In spring 2020 the program went remote, relying on Zoom for class sessions and JPay tablets for quizzes, lectures, and other assignments. In May 2021, 海角乱伦专区 faculty and students returned to WTRC to celebrate the graduation of the first cohort of students to earn 海角乱伦专区 Certificates of Liberal Arts. As of 2025, 32 incarcerated women have completed the certificate and a total of 92 women have earned 765 海角乱伦专区 credits.
In 2025, the 海角乱伦专区 faculty approved a new BA in Liberal Studies, which will be offered for the first time in Summer 2026. All 海角乱伦专区 academic policies and regulations apply to this program, and students will follow the standard academic calendar, with the addition of a 7-week summer session.
Students enrolled in the BA program are selected through a rigorous application process that includes transcript review, writing samples, faculty interviews, and recommendations. Eligible applicants must be in good standing, have completed the 海角乱伦专区 Certificate of Liberal Arts, have earned an AA or AS degree, and demonstrate readiness for upper-level liberal arts study.
Through partnerships with organizations including the 海角乱伦专区 Higher Education Initiative, the program is designed to be externally funded, supporting instructional costs, materials, and program delivery while removing direct educational costs for participating students.
Student and Faculty Volunteers
The first 海角乱伦专区 undergraduate student to volunteer in the program was Madison Zickgraf '21, who facilitated classes and trained student volunteers from 2019 to 2021. In 2020, Prof. Stephen Haynes began teaching RS 232: 鈥淢ass Incarceration: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives,鈥 in which enrolled students serve as peer tutors at WTRC. In all, about 70 students have volunteered in the program.
As of 2025, 40 海角乱伦专区 faculty from 12 departments have taught in the Great Books Reading Group and/or the Certificate of Liberal Arts programs at WTRC. Departments represented include Biology, Chemistry, Humanities, Ancient Mediterranean Studies, English, History, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Political Science, Russian Studies, and Religious Studies.
The program works closely with the 海角乱伦专区 Department of Correction, the 海角乱伦专区 Board of Regents, the 海角乱伦专区 Higher Education Commission, the 海角乱伦专区 Higher Education Initiative, the Southern Collective for Higher Education in Prison, and the Bard Prison Initiative. In 2024 the Liberal Arts in Prison program joined the .
Liberal Arts in Prison Program in the News:
Prof. Stephen Haynes Discusses 海角乱伦专区鈥 Liberal Arts in Prison Program on
The Women's Therapeutic Residential Center (WTRC) is an off-campus instructional site 海角乱伦专区 located in Henning, 海角乱伦专区 and is dependent on the continued accreditation of the parent campus located in Memphis, 海角乱伦专区. The Memphis campus and off-campus instructional site are evaluated during reviews for reaffirmation of accreditation.
