This course frames writing practices, strategies, and advocacy from a rhetorical lens that examines prison writing both by and about prisoners and the U.S. carceral state, thus considering the frisson that may exist between inside and outside representations.  

Students will use practical and theoretical approaches to examine and understand how writings about and by (formerly) incarcerated individuals reflect concerns about the human condition in places of confinement in relation to unequal power relations and the relationship of these portrayals to larger aims of ‘giving voice’ and creating social awareness of the specific plight of the incarcerated. 

At the same time, students will analyze the often ambiguous and/or limited role of such writings and writing programs in amplifying the voices and works of incarcerated learners/writers and the complex ethical implications and rhetorical decisions thus entailed. The course will invite the students themselves to engage and join ongoing conversations about such issues, vis-à-vis a research and/or advocacy writing project that arises from the term’s coursework and discussions. 

This course introduces students to mass incarceration through brief writings by and about the (formerly) incarcerated. The course also introduces students to rhetorical concepts and practices essential for effective writing-centered interactions with incarcerated writers. Students will be introduced to the role of writing programs in amplifying the voices of incarcerated learners/writers and the complex ethical implications and rhetorical decisions thus entailed. Students will practice effective consulting moves to help writers achieve their writing goals. The course focuses extensively on community engagement with incarcerated college students whose writing is substantially tied to their pursuits of college degrees. We will travel once a week for 10 weeks to the Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson Michigan.

Students will complete the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) criminal background check application (LIEN), and MSU’s Acknowledgement of Risk to comply with MDOC security and safety protocols and MSU’s legal requirements respectively. We will be trained on protocols and safety regulations by MDOC. Understanding that people have varying levels of comfort with carceral spaces, and as a way to engage the carceral community this class offers, students may elect to participate in the Creative Collaboration with Incarcerated Youth (CCIY), which is a student organization offering and assisting incarcerated youth with creative projects. The organization’s President is Lily Dixon. This organization collaborates closely with the Incarcerated Arts program, directed by Dr. David McCarthy in the Residential College of Arts and Humanities (RCAH). 

This course frames writing practices, strategies, and advocacy from a rhetorical lens that examines prison writing both by and about prisoners and the U.S. carceral state, thus considering the frisson that may exist between inside and outside representations.  

Students will use rhetorical approaches to examine and understand how writings about and by (formerly) incarcerated individuals in efforts to reflect and advance social justice principles specific to concerns about the human condition in places of confinement in relation to unequal power relations. Through such analyses students will explore the relationship of these portrayals to larger aims of ‘giving voice’ and creating social awareness of the specific plight of the incarcerated. 

At the same time, students will analyze the often ambiguous and/or limited role of such writings and writing programs in amplifying the voices and works of incarcerated learners/writers and the complex ethical implications and rhetorical decisions thus entailed. The course will invite the students themselves to engage and join ongoing conversations about such issues, vis-à-vis a research or advocacy-focused writing project that arises from the term’s coursework and discussions. (Students may be interested in the Creative Collaboration with Incarcerated Youth, MSU Arts Living-Learning Community.)