A new college-in-prison initiative will bring five local, state and national programs together in one effort to be housed at the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns. Notre Dame Programs for Education in Prison (NDPEP) will offer opportunities for liberal arts education to people incarcerated in Indiana, create the infrastructure to support NDPEP participants as they re-enter their home communities and provide faculty and student opportunities for education and research on issues related to incarceration.
“NDPEP represents a wonderful way for Notre Dame to live out its Catholic mission and to be a healing and unifying force for good,” said Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at Notre Dame. “It not only provides people who are incarcerated with opportunities to learn and to chart a new way forward for their lives, but it also allows our faculty and students to apply their skills and deepen their understanding of the challenges faced by our society’s corrections system.”
NDPEP will include the Indiana Prison Liberal Arts Network (IPLAN) and Inside-Out classes, as well as research and alumni support services for the Moreau College Initiative, administrative oversight of the Women’s College Partnership and fieldwork for Shakespeare at Notre Dame’s prison programs.