EJP is a vibrant academic community of incarcerated students, educators, formerly incarcerated individuals, family members of the incarcerated, and others who are committed to more just and humane world, achieved through education and critical awareness. We believe that providing opportunities for quality postsecondary education within American prisons is an important step towards that vision. Accordingly, EJP offers educational programming at Danville Correctional Center through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
An excellent, comprehensive prison education program must also work outside of the prison, providing continued support for its alumni. Because we recognize the multiple impacts of prison education upon incarcerated students’ families and communities, we also host programs to support their educational goals and their efforts to better navigate the challenges of having a loved one behind bars.
Finally, we are committed to public education around issues of incarceration and criminal justice. We conduct frequent events on the University of Illinois campus and the Urbana-Champaign community to increase awareness of these topics.
EJP is based at one of the world’s top research universities, in its highly-ranked College of Education. We take scholarship seriously. EJP runs a research group, produces white papers related to policy, and supports EJP members also produce critical scholarship about prison education, as well as creative works.
We are committed to building an open, safe, gentle, inclusive learning environment within EJP. We believe that a rigorous and critical education program requires the cultivation of such an environment and that self-reflection is an important part of creating and sustaining such an environment.
