Join us for a film screening and discussion of College Behind Bars, an Emmy-nominated documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Lynn Novick, which tells the story of a small group of incarcerated men and women working to earn university degrees and turn their lives around in one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programs in the United States – the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI).
Hosted in Manchester at The Whitworth Gallery on Thursday May 11th from 6pm-8.30pm, this public engagement event organized by Dr Caroline Parker and Dr Scott Midson showcases successful prison-based higher education initiatives and challenges assumptions about incarcerated people’s capacity for learning.
The evening will offer an opportunity to share and discuss ideas to tackle urgent questions: What is prison for? Who has access to educational opportunity? Who among us is capable of academic excellence? How can we have justice without education? Discussion of these questions will be facilitated by Dyjuan Tatro and Shawn Young, two alumni of the Bard Prison Initiative.
Nazir Afzal OBE, the Chancellor of University of Manchester, will give an opening speech.
The screening and discussion will be followed by a drinks reception.
Tickets are free, but booking is essential (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/college-behind-bars-film-screening-and-discussion-on-justice-and-education-tickets-552688796067)
This event is supported by funding from Manchester University’s School of Arts, Languages, and Cultures, Manchester University’s School of Social Sciences, the Bard Prison Initiative, and the Open Society University Network.
Speakers
Dyjuan Tatro
Dyjuan Tatro is the Senior Government Affairs Officer for BPI, and a legal reform advocate and strategist who has worked to bridge the gap between policy and practice. As an alumnus of Bard Prison Initiative, Dyjuan has leveraged his education and experience to shift public policy in favour of expanding college-in-prison. He holds a BA in Mathematics from Bard College.
Shawn Young
Shawn Young is the Project Lead, Upstate Reentry and Capital Region Initiative and is also the Co-founder of All Of Us Community Action Group, a Black-led grassroots organization. Shawn’s experience includes community organizing, activism, and advocacy. He holds a BA from Bard College.
