Life after Incarceration
The challenges of reentering society after imprisonment will be the focus of a November 4 event sponsored by the Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America.
“Life After Incarceration: A Panel Discussion on Re-Entry, Justice, and Belonging” will be held at the Robsham Theater Arts Center from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., presented in collaboration with the Boston College Prison Education Program (PEP).
Patrick Conway. (Caitlin Cunningham)
The program’s director, Inaugural Ignacio Chair Patrick Conway, will be among the panelists who will visit the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Shirley, Mass.—the site of PEP—prior to the event.
In addition to Conway, panelists sharing their insights will be Anna Haskins, the Andrew V. Tackes Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame; Massachusetts Department of Correction Commissioner Shawn Jenkins; Thrive for Life Prison Project founder Zachariah Presutti, S.J.; and Ved Price, executive director of the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison.
Joy Moore (Lee Pellegrini)
“The Forum on Racial Justice in America is pleased to host another dynamic panel of experts to speak on life after incarceration,” said forum co-director Joy Moore, University vice president and executive director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success. “For those looking to understand what it takes to re-enter after incarceration, this is a discussion you won't want to miss.”
The forum “creates an invaluable space for dialogue about what it truly means to come home after incarceration,” according to Conway. “For the Boston College Prison Education Program, this conversation speaks directly to our mission: education as a pathway toward restoration, belonging, and full participation in community life.
“Our students—both inside and on campus—are helping to lead the way nationally in reimagining what higher education in prison can be,” he added. “Each panelist brings extraordinary expertise to this conversation, and I hope attendees leave with a deeper understanding of the structural barriers that persist during and after incarceration, and of the transformative power of education to help break those cycles.”
Gregory Kalscheur, S.J.
“The forum has a mandate to provide a meeting place for listening and dialogue in order to promote justice, reconciliation, empathy, and understanding,” said forum co-director Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., dean of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. “We are grateful for the opportunity to bring this panel's expertise with the challenges related to post-incarceration re-entry into a wider conversation about what respect for human dignity and care for the common good requires of us at this moment in our national life.”
The event will be followed by a reception.
Founded in 2019, PEP offers a high-quality liberal arts education to incarcerated students at MCI-Shirley. Courses are taught by BC instructors and offer credits leading to a bachelor’s degree in the Applied Liberal Arts in the Woods College of Advancing Studies.Â
With its focus on understanding race and racism in the U.S., the Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America serves as a catalyst for bridging differences, promoting reconciliation, and encouraging new perspectives.