AFRS 263 - Carceral Geographies

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Prisons are sites of containment and exclusion which are situated in networks of connections and relations. Through a project-based learning activity this course examines socio-spatial entanglements of the prison industrial complex in the context of Dutchess County. We overview recent cases of local prison closures alongside the inauguration of a new carceral facility in Poughkeepsie. By conceiving of carcerality as an analytical modality, this intensive seeks to better understand the spatial formation of New York State penalscapes and their economic processes. To this end, we investigate the commercial involvement of corporations in industrialized punishment and overview some activist efforts at prison divestment. This intensive encourages students to rethink how new relationships and renovated institutions could be created to undermine the expansion of carceral geographies. Michael Reyes Salas.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: INT