A new magazine edited by local alumni of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program invites reflection on the theme: “When Does Punishment End?”
The Glass House is a publication of People for Change, a member organization that meets every two weeks at the Toledo Correctional Institution. Its membership is open to anyone who has successfully completed a class at the facility through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange, including current students and alumni of The University of Toledo.
The Glass House is a publication of People for Change, a member organization that meets every two weeks at the Toledo Correctional Institution.
UToledo introduced Inside-Out at Toledo Correctional Institution in 2010. It’s an international program aimed at facilitating dialogue and education across profound social differences, putting together as classmates students from higher education institutions and from the prison facilities where classes are held. Course material varies from program to program and semester to semester.
People for Change has published a newsletter since 2011, and the group released its first issue of the more ambitious publication Glass House in October 2023. Its Spring 2024 issue is funded by the Ohio Humanities Council and the UToledo College of Arts and Letters. It explores its theme through essays, stories and works of art contributed by members and supporters of People for Change.
“Every issue of Glass House has a theme,” said Dr. Renee Heberle, professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration and coordinator of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. “The theme of this issue, ‘When Does Punishment End?’ emerged in brainstorming discussions as we reflected on how punishment has become normalized in many aspects of our lives, inside and outside prisons.
“Our debate about what punishment is, where and how it is carried out and why we take it so much for granted as part of human relationships was a gold mine of diverse reflections, stories and works of art.”
The magazine is the result of six months of intense collaboration among members, who solicit submissions, select and edit contributions and work with graphic designers. UToledo students who collaborated on the latest issue were seniors Madelyne Stiegler and Victoria Auld, studying Law and Social Thought, and senior Olivia Collett and sophomore Bailey Binder, studying visual arts. Incarcerated students who collaborated are identified only by first name: John, Roy, Shadow, Wendell, Spence, Sheano, Tristian and Nick.
Heberle facilitated the process, assisted by correctional facility staff who helped to coordinate meetings and the approval process by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
For more information about Glass House and the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, go to the UToledo Inside-Out website.
