Recent News
Bay State College’s Criminal Justice Program Takes Classroom inside Local Prison
October 2, 2012
Boston, MA- Bay State College was recently granted access to hold their first Criminal Justice course inside a prison, as part of the Inside Out Prisoner Exchange program. Bay State College students from the day and evening divisions from the Boston and Middleboro campuses will be enrolled in the Friday night Sustainable Justice course to be held inside the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Plymouth. Dr. William Morrissette, Department Chair of the Criminal Justice Program at Bay State College, has been working for the past year to make it possible for the College to participate in the program.
Inside Out is a nonprofit headquartered at Temple University that trains college professors to teach social sciences and humanities courses inside prisons to a mixed group of incarcerated and non-incarcerated students.
“It is our desire for our students to be a part of this important effort to bring diverse groups together, in community, with the goal of finding common ground and reflecting upon our place and our purpose in this world,” says Dr. William Morrissette. “This is the first time the College’s Criminal Justice program has offered a full course outside the walls of our classrooms. We hope to continue to add unique learning experiences as much as possible.”
The United States currently ranks first relative to the number of individuals incarcerated per capita. This status has led many to ask whether our current criminal justice processes and the associated levels of incarceration are sustainable over the long term. This course will explore the fundamental concepts of, and recent movement towards, building a sustainable approach to social and criminal justice. Particular emphasis will be placed on the question of which criminal justice approaches hold the most promise to deliver both national and global sustainable justice.
About Bay State College
Bay State College is a private college whose mission is to provide students with a quality education that prepares them for professional careers and increasing levels of higher education. Bay State College accomplishes this mission by providing a learning environment where teaching excellence and student services are blended to support the uniqueness of individual students, preparing them to achieve their full potential as ethically and socially aware citizens. For the third consecutive year, Bay State College has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.