From 2018 to 2023, the Human Rights Lab was home to an innovative, multi-component project on mass incarceration led by Alice Kim. Today, this project continues at UChicago as Beyond Prisons, now part of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture.
The above video gives an introduction to this group's spirit and its many initiatives, including:
- “Narrating Social Change,” a mixed enrollment course that brought together UChicago students and incarcerated students at Stateville Prison. This was the first time a course of this type has been offered at UChicago, and it continues today.
- Artists for the People, a fellowship for artists whose work explored the carceral system.
- The Mass Incarceration Working Group, a gathering of UChicago faculty, staff, and students seeking new ways to raise awareness about mass incarceration and the unique challenges facing formerly and currently incarcerated individuals seeking higher education.
- Monthly educational workshops at Logan Correction Center and Stateville Prison, conducted in partnership with the Prison+Neighborhood Arts/Education Project (PNAP).