Overview
Has the vast expansion of the prison population in the United States over the past several decades contributed to public safety? If so, do these benefits outweigh the harms that it has done? Do prisons have a place in a fair and effective criminal justice system? Can our current system be reformed, or is a more radical rethinking called for?
CEHV's Civil Discourse Forums are planned and moderated by our undergraduate Civil Discourse Fellows. They are part of our Civil Discourse for Citizenship initiative, which provides opportunities for students to engage in vigorous and respectful discussion anchored by the 4Cs: Be Curious, Be Charitable, Be Conscientious, Be Constructive.
Please contact CEHV Civil Discourse Program Director Kathryn Joyce (Joyce.173@osu.edu) if you require any accommodations to participate in this event.
Speakers
Paul Bellair (Sociology, Ohio State)
Dr. Bellair's research addresses the community context of crime, delinquency, and drug use, race/ethnic differences in violence, life course criminology, and recidivism. His most recent research examines the relationship between employment stability and recidivism among ex-prisoners. He is the Principal Investigator of the Ohio Prison study, a longitudinal, mixed-methods study of 250 former prisoners.
Amy Shuster (Philosophy, Ohio State)
Dr. Shuster's research investigates how and why philosophers—from the ancient Greeks to today—make ungrounded claims about the potential of violence to achieve justice. More broadly, they are interested in the history of philosophy, with a special focus on value theory. Dr. Shuster has taught courses on the philosophy of happiness and the philosophy of gender at a local prison since Spring 2019, and they are currently teaching a new course entitled Philosophical Approaches to Racism and Sexism (PHILOS 1420). They co-facilitate a prison-based learning community called Philosophy for Humans. And they serve on the advisory council of The Ohio Prison Education Exchange Project (OPEEP). In addition to teaching, they develop curriculum, conduct program assessment, and lead a summer camp for high school students in the Department of Philosophy.
Moderators
Cydney Carter is a second year Sociology major on the Pre-Law track with a Human Rights minor. She is a Law and Society Scholar and a Morrill Scholar and is currently working as a recruiting admin assistant for the Ohio State Football Program. She serves on the Executive Board for the Law and Society Scholars as a member of the Social Committee. She is an active member of the Undergraduate Black Law Student Association (UBLSA) and the Minority Community Outreach Support Team (MCOST) on the Fundraising Committee.
Saed Yousuf is a third-year Criminology and Criminal Justice major with a minor in Judicial Politics. On campus, Saed is a member of Ohio State's Ohio Innocence Project chapter and the Undergraduate Black Law Student Association. Additionally, he is currently in his second-year interning at the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas with Judge Sheryl Munson. Saed is also a graduate of the Ohio Prison Education Exchange Project and a member of the Philosophy for Humans learning community at Southeastern Correctional Institution (a community made up of Ohio State students, teachers, and incarcerated individuals focused on supporting higher education in prison).
CEHV's Civil Discourse for Citizenship initiative is pursued with generous support from the Derrow Family Foundation and in partnership with Ohio State's Civil Discourse Project.
