4.16.15

I am here to talk about my prison book group work, which started in 2002, inspired by a conversation with a colleague after a truly inspiring talk here at Hamilton by the great civil rights leader and creator of the Algebra Project (and Hamilton College alumnus, class of 1956) Robert Moses.

I am particularly interested in exploring what I’ve learned about philosophy by doing philosophy with this group (more later on the shifting identity of the group), both about the texts themselves, but also about how the assumptions different readers bring to them might be said to change them. I am also interested in the ever urgent pedagogical questions about how to share power and authority in the classroom. Of course some readers will come to the blog wanting to know about what being in prison is like for volunteers like me, what teaching inmates is like, and the like, and though those will not be my main topic interests, plenty of what I have to say will shed light on them.