Ninah Jackson ’25 has been deeply involved in prison education since taking an Inside-Out class at State Correctional Institution (SCI) Coal Township in the fall of 2023. Since the course, Jackson has gone on to co-organize the Ella Baker-Kwame Ture Prison Study Group and conduct an honors thesis on the ideological, political, and intellectual dimensions of prison education.  Inside-Out Course Jackson first heard about Inside-Out through word of mouth, through Endia Scales ’24, who asked Jackson to join Professor Vanessa Massaro’s Cultural Geography course because “she didn’t want to be the only Black student in the class.” Jackson was unsure […]

When Professor Tom Solomon first learned about the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, he didn’t approach it with a plan. He approached it with possibility. It was a conversation with Professor Carolynn Davis, a Bucknell faculty member deeply involved in prison education, that first sparked his interest. She held an information session for faculty, and the idea of teaching inside a prison stood out. The concept felt important, even urgent. It didn’t take long for that curiosity to deepen. A phone call with Lori Pompa, the program’s founder at Temple University, helped clarify what was at stake. In just thirty minutes, […]

One of Bucknell’s current classes is an Inside-Out class, which is a Sociology 100 course that meets every Tuesday from 12:00-4:30 at Muncy State Correctional Institution in which 7 Bucknell (outside) students and 8 Incarcerated (inside) students meet. This class is a Community Engaged Learning(CEL) course that allows for students to gain unique perspectives while engaging with members of the community who they might not otherwise. Two of the students were asked to give their reflection on the class, which is written below.  Cloey Rentschler (Freshman, Neuroscience major) I never thought I would be stepping into a correctional facility, for […]

One of our amazing Community Engaged Learning(CEL) professors here at Bucknell is Dr. Karen Altendorf, who is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Sociology. Professor Altendorf works diligently to provide three CBL courses, which give her students a variety of experiences and opportunities.  The first course, being offered this semester, is a Sociology 100 Inside-Out Course, in which Professor Altendorf takes 7 outside (Bucknell) students to Muncy State Correctional Facility (SCI) every week to meet with 8 inside (incarcerated) students. The main focus of the class, as stated by Professor Altendorf, is, “We are really focusing on perspectives and broadening them […]

Written by Amira Faden This past semester, I have had the honor of taking a poetry class through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. The course took place in a local prison: 8 of the students came from Bucknell (“outside students”) and 8 of the students were incarcerated in the local prison (“inside students”). We met one afternoon each week within the prison for a series of discussions, writing exercises and sharing sessions on the subject of reading and writing poetry. Together, we established a foundation of trust and connection that allowed us to learn from each other. Two conversations come […]

On April 16, 2024 Sarah Junkin Woodard visited Bucknell to talk to alumni of the Bucknell Brigade, past faculty leaders and staff members. She gave a wonderful overview of the program’s beginnings and where it is now. She kindly agreed to record her presentation for our website, so that today’s Bucknellians can witness the tremendous difference the work of Jubilee House has made in Nueva Vida, Nicaragua. You can download the video here.

In Fall 2024 there are 3 courses being offered with the Community Based Learning designation in three difference departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. There are 14 Community Engaged courses (some with multiple sections and labs) being offered in all three colleges across the university. There are three courses in Engineering, three in Freeman College of Management, five in Arts and Sciences and three university courses (UNIV). College of Engineering CEL courses: Arts and Sciences CEL courses: Freeman College of Management University Courses .

In a 2024 civic engagement event, Passport to the World, which was held at the Lewisburg Children’s Museum on Saturday, March 30, the Foreign Language Teaching Assistants at Bucknell University brought their cultures from Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lebanon and Spain to local children. Children also got to learn about the American Deaf Community and the culture of American Sign Language (ASL). The festival featured hands-on crafts and activities, such as Japanese origami, coloring the flag of Colombia, making Play-Doh Italian pizza, and crafting the national tree of Lebanon. To read more about the event and its […]