EOU Home  |  About EOU | Visitors Center   

Inmates gain new view of humanity, in perspective

By Laura Hancock | Media and Publications Writer
University Advancement | lhancock@eou.edu

La Grande, Oregon – A new college-level course offered by the Oregon Council for the Humanities (OCH) in collaboration with Eastern Oregon University is making a difference in the lives of 15 prison inmates.

            Photo/Grady Goodall/University Advancement
From left, instructors Tom Madden, Kevin Cahill, Callie
Palmer, and Sarah Witte visit with Christopher Zinn,
executive director of the Oregon Council for the
Humanities.

A first of its kind in Oregon, the year-long course is called Humanity in Perspective, and is opening minds at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute to great works of the classics and American literature. Just one of the many exciting projects being undertaken by the council and its partners in northeast Oregon, the program boosts the GED and Adult Basic Education courses already available at the prison.

“Humanity in Perspective is a great complement to these existing resources, and is very ambitious in its curriculum and broader goals of developing good citizens – first behind bars – then back in their respective communities,” said Katherine Deumling, associate director of OCH.

Four instructors from La Grande are delivering the class, and each student will earn six college credits donated by EOU’s Division of Distance Education. The course curriculum was developed by OCH and Reed College.

“It was as if the door of the future had opened and they saw opportunity.”
— Sarah Witte, EOU associate
VP for academic affairs

Sarah Witte, EOU’s associate vice president for academic affairs, Callie Palmer, EOU instructor of English, Tom Madden, retired EOU English professor, and Kevin Cahill, a teacher at La Grande
High School, are taking turns traveling to Pendleton two days a week to deliver
the course.

“The program is showing every sign of success,” said Witte, who recently finished teaching the first semester of the course. “The students were very receptive to assignments that might take them in a new direction. They jumped right into reading Sophoclese.”

Before long, Witte observed the inmates beginning to bond into a community of learners, and she believes the course will have a tremendous impact on every student. One student remarked to her that he was finally learning to listen. And with nothing but time on their hands, she said the inmates poured over each text, reading the material at least two times through prior to class.

“It was as if the door of the future had opened and they saw opportunity,” Witte said.

Interest from the community in Pendleton soon led to a public lecture and discussion series based on the same material the inmates were studying. Four questions were posed and then discussed for the series: What is the nature of love and desire? What is the relationship between power and justice? What is the role of knowledge in virtuous actions? What is the relationship between individuals and their community?

The partnership between EOU, the Oregon Council for the Humanities and Reed College continues to grow. EOU has created a new student position with Americorps through the Cornerstones Program on campus to help identify the needs and interests of people living in eastern Oregon. This collaboration has set the plans in motion to introduce a humanities lecture series in La Grande similar to the one in Pendleton.

“The Oregon Council for the Humanities sees a real need for public humanities discussions like this, and at the community level,” said John McKinnon, EOU professor of music and council board member. “I hope that interested community members will watch for notices early in the spring about the lecture and discussion series. It will be open to everyone.”

The council has been offering the Humanity in Perspective course in the Portland area to those who are economically and educationally disadvantaged for the past four years, and it has been a tremendous success. Deumling said that the program at the prison will most likely continue next year if the funding is available.

Contact Us | Alumni | Government Relations | President's page