How did the use of physical captivity become so integral to ideas of social order and so influential on cultural attitudes -- especially in the U.S. but also elsewhere?  And what are some possible alternatives to continuing regimes of incarceration? How does the structured basis for defining crime and its punishments reflect and reinforce inequalities in society based on race, gender and economic status in the U.S. particularly, and how might those inequalities be more positively addressed and improved otherwise? This course will develop collective understandings of prisons in the contemporary moment by considering a wide range of critical insights on the significance and problems inherent in penal systems by way of first-hand written accounts, fictional narratives, and theoretical perspectives along with creative projects in other media by and about incarcerated individuals. Along the way, the class will examine differing ideas about prisons as sites of rehabilitation and reform, deterrence and/or punishment as well as investigate movements to abolish prison entirely.

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