About the Grinnell Prison Workshop

Mission

The members of the Grinnell Prison Workshop facilitate liberal arts-style classes for incarcerated adults. By doing so, we hope to create an educational exchange that benefits both incarcerated and college students, prison staff, and a wider community affected by mass incarceration. We believe that education is an effective way to lower recidivism and build understanding among groups of people who might not otherwise communicate.

History

Grinnell Prison Workshop started in the spring of 2003 as a restorative justice-based creative writing workshop at the Newton Correctional Facility. The first class at the prison was taught by Howard Burkle, professor emeritus of religious studies, and included four Grinnell student participants. When Professor Burkle was unable to continue teaching the following semester, former Grinnell students Laura Matter and Ursula Hill continued the program and facilitated its transition into a student-run, student-staffed volunteer program. Since then, participation in the Workshop, by both incarcerated and college students, has expanded exponentially. Nearly thirty Grinnell students travel to three local prisons on a weekly basis to facilitate a variety of liberal arts-style classes.