Prison Studies | Simpson Center for the Humanities

Projects

Abolitionist Futures & Intentional Kin-Making

American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Black Studies, Cultural Studies, Immigration, Latinx

what is racial capitalism art collage with racial capitalism in black letters over the art

Collective for the Study of Racial Capitalism

21st Century, American Ethnic Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Asian American, Black Studies

Protest by detained African asylum seekers in Holot detention facility in Israel, 2014.

Negotiating Carceral Regimes in the Global South: Crime and Punishment Across the Islamic World

21st Century, Asian Languages & Literature, Capitalism, Colonialism, Comparative Literature, Cinema & Media

A white square surrounded by dark walls.

Transformative Education Behind Bars

Current Events, Democracy, Human Rights, Prison Studies

Rainbow colored poster that reads End Public School to Prison Pipeline

Prison Education Collaboration

Prison Studies

Articles

Black and white photo of the guard tower at the Washington State Penitentiary with the text “Washington Prison History Project” over it

Gillian Harkins Awarded Barclay Simpson Prize for a Decade of Prison Education Work

Prison Studies, Public Scholarship, Barclay Simpson Award

Graduate students in a conference room talking

Join a Graduate Research Cluster: Fall 2021 Events and Calls for Papers

Higher Education, Prison Studies, Literary Studies, Race

Portrait of Madison Snider: curled, shoulder-length brown hair, blue eyes, smiling at the camera. Blue brick background and wearing a blue t-shirt.

Writer in Residence Madison Snider: "The Vigilant Imagination of Abolition"

Prison Studies, Race

People

Portrait of Dan Berger leaning against a brick wall

Dan Berger (he/him/his)

Dan Berger is associate professor of comparative ethnic studies at the University of Washington Bothell. His research and teaching focus on histories of the carceral state and US social movements.

American Ethnic Studies, Black Studies, Cultural Studies, Prison Studies, Race, Social Justice, Systemic Racism

Megan Ybarra (she/her/hers)

Megan Ybarra is a 2022-2023 Society of Scholars Fellow.

American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Environment, Immigration, Latinx, Prison Studies, Public Scholarship, Race, Social Justice

Caleb Knapp wearing blue oxford shirt and burnt orange sweater poses in front of bookshelf for portrait

Caleb holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington, Seattle. His research focuses on nineteenth-century American literature and culture, sexual violence, and the history of slavery in the United States.

American Studies, Black Studies, Cultural Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Literary Studies, Prison Studies

Photo of Alec Fisher in front of a palm tree.

Alec Fisher (they/he)

20th Century, 21st Century, Feminisms, Prison Studies

Justin Randolph stands in front of a dark wall while wearing glasses and a white sweater.

Justin Randolph (he/him/his)

Justin Randolph is Assistant Professor of History at Texas State University. An ACLS Fellow for academic year 2022-2023, he joins the Simpson Center to finish his first book on policing and resistance in rural America.

Prison Studies, Public Scholarship, Race, Social Justice, Systemic Racism

Close-up photo of a smiling woman with brown hair wearing round glasses and a red sweater. Part of the Seattle skyline is in view behind her.

Shelby House (she/they)

Shelby House is a doctoral student in the Sociocultural Anthropology program and a Graduate Fellow at the UW Center for Environmental Politics.

Animal Studies, Anthropology, Colonialism, Prison Studies

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Project Resources