How is it that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world?
What forces led us here? What alternatives are on the horizon?
The 2016–2017 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series explores the ways that state violence, mass incarceration, and mass criminalization have transformed the U.S. economy, culture, and society. More than a dozen panels, performances, gallery exhibitions, and lectures by the nation's leading scholars, artists, and activists are addressing a wide range of topics, from police brutality, immigration detention, and carceral feminism to the consequences of incarceration for women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals. The series will culminate in the opening of the national traveling exhibition States of Incarceration: A National Dialogue of Local Stories in collaboration with Wistariahurst Museum, the Wauregan Building, Forbes Library, and Historic Northampton. Several university courses and a free workshop series for K12 educators, Teaching in the Age of Mass Incarceration, are accompanying this year's Feinberg Series.
This Feinberg Series aims to offer meaningful events that consider the carceral state in a historical perspective and that will support and amplify ongoing work by community groups and activists, enriching undergraduate and graduate education at UMass and surrounding educational institutions. Taken together, these powerful events will explore the many ways in which the carceral state impacts our lives and our world in deep and far-reaching ways.
All events are FREE and open to the public. Young people of all ages are welcome at all Feinberg Series events.
Fall Calendar of Events
Friday, September 9 | Inside/Outside: The Politics of Social Change, A Panel Discussion on Mass Incarceration
A panel discussion hosted by the University Without Walls Social Justice Residency with John Bracey (UMass Amherst W.E.B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies), Heshima Moja(University Without Walls), Marianne Bullock (Prison Birth Project). Co-sponsored by the Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. 7:30pm, UMass Center at Springfield
Wednesday, September 14 | Middle of Nowhere
Film screening of Ava DuVernay's groundbreaking film Middle of Nowhere (2012). After the film, Geert Dhondt (John Jay College of Criminal Justice) will give a short talk exploring the political-economic structures that have led to the quadrupling of the US prison population 1980 to 2008, and why this growth has been targeted at black and brown people. Hosted by the Center for Popular Economics "Reel Economics" file series and co-sponsored by the Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. 7:00pm, Unitarian Universalist Community of Amherst (121 North Pleasant St, Amherst).
Tuesday, September 20 | Women, Incarceration and Carceral Feminism, Keynote Event
Women are the fastest growing segment of the US prison population, and women of color and trans women are incarcerated at disproportionate rates. This panel will discuss what this means for women, children, and families, including how to address violence against women in the age of mass incarceration. With Andrea James (Families for Justice as Healing, National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls), Mariame Kaba (Project NIA and Love & Protect), Victoria Law (freelance journalist, author of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women), Herschelle Reaves (Activist, Springfield, MA), and Elias Vitulli (Gender Studies, Mount Holyoke College). Copies of the presenters' books will be available for purchase. 5:30pm, Cape Cod Lounge, UMass Amherst Student Center.
Wednesday, September 28 | The Circumference of a Prison: Youth, Race, and the Failures of the American Justice System, Feature Lecture
Lecture and book signing with Reginald Dwayne Betts, author of A Question of Freedom, PEN New England Award winner and national spokesperson for the Campaign for Youth Justice. Arrested at age sixteen, Betts served eight years in an adult prison. Today, Betts uses his experiences to speak about the current state of the criminal justice system—including sentencing juveniles as adults, solitary confinement, maximum security prisons, the collateral consequences of a criminal record—and presents promising ideas for reform. Books will be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of Amherst Books. 7pm, Student Union Ballroom, UMass Amherst Student Center.
Wednesday, October 5 | Racist and Systemic Police Violence, Chicago Style
Attorney Flint Taylor (People's Law Office) will discuss police torture and violence in Chicago, focusing on the 1969 assassination of Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, the torture of African American suspects by police commander Jon Burge, and the recent videotaped police murder of Laquan McDonald. Co-sponsored by the Commonwealth Honors College, Legal Studies, the Pre-Law Advising Office, Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, Anthropology, Afro-American Studies, and Western Mass ACLU. 4:30pm, Herter Annex 231, UMass Amherst.
Thursday, October 13 | U.S. Neoslavery: A History of the Prison Industrial Present
Lecture by scholar-activist Dennis Childs (UC San Diego). Hosted by the Social Thought and Political Economy Program and co-sponsored by the American Studies Program, the Department of English, the Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series, and the Department of History. 4:00pm, Bernie Dallas Room, Goodell Hall, UMass Amherst.
Monday, October 17 | Chained in Silence: A History of Black Women and Convict Labor
Lecture and book signing with award-winning historian Talitha L. LeFlouria (University of Virginia) on the plight of post-Civil War black women prisoners and their day-to-day struggles to overcome work-related abuses and violence. Copies of LeFlouria's prize-winning book Chained in Silence will be available for purchase. UMass/Five College Graduate Program in History Distinguished Annual Lecture. 4:30pm, Bernie Dallas Room, Goodell Hall, UMass Amherst.
Wednesday, October 26 | Resisting Police Violence in Springfield and Beyond: Mothers, Scholars, and Queer People of Color Speak Out
An evening with local and national voices, Kissa Owens (mother of Delano Walker), Andrea Ritchie(attorney, writer, Soros Justice Fellow), ShaeShae Quest (OutNow), Maria Ververis (mother of Michael Ververis), and Rhonda Y. Williams (scholar and community activist). Co-hosted by OutNow, Arise for Social Justice, and Project Operation Change, with the STCC School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. 7pm, Scibelli Hall Auditorium, STCC, Building 2.
Thursday, October 27 | Conversation with Dr. Rhonda Y. Williams
"Dr. Rhonda," as she is called, has been engaged in local and community efforts, including on police and criminal justice reform. She is author of Concrete Demands: The Search for Black Power in the 20th Century and the award-winning The Politics of Public Housing; is founder and director of the Social Justice Institute at Case Western Reserve University; and as one of the "Cleveland 8," has been a voice for justice in the Tamir Rice case. Attendees are invited to bring their lunches. Beverages and dessert provided. 12pm, Herter Hall 601, UMass Amherst.
Tuesday, November 1 | Concentration Camps, American Style: Japanese Americans and WWII
On the eve of the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 which authorized the removal and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans, this lecture by Franklin Odo (Amherst College) explores the history and legacy of Japanese internment. 5pm, Herter Hall 601, UMass Amherst.
Monday, November 7 | Know Your Rights
Workshop with Northampton attorney Luke Ryan on rights and legal advice in handling encounters with law enforcement. 6:30pm, Campus Center 904, UMass Amherst
Thursday, November 10 | “Alien” Incarcerations: Migrants in Detention
A panel discussion on the history and current realities of the migrant detention regime. With David Hernández (Latina/o Studies, Mount Holyoke College), Carl Lindskoog (History, Raritan Valley Community College), Megan Kludt, (Curran and Berger Immigration Law), and Mizue Aizeki(Immigrant Defense Project). With the UMass School of Public Policy. 4:30pm, Bernie Dallas Room, Goodell Hall, UMass Amherst.
Tuesday, November 15 | Historicizing the Carceral State: Race, Sex, and Power in Early America
This lecture by Jen Manion (Amherst College) explores how the penitentiary system in early America exploited racist ideologies, gender norms, sexual desire, and antipathy towards the poor to justify its existence and expansion. Manion’s research suggests that the use of incarceration grew as women, enslaved people, and indentured servants—those previously with no legal standing—increasingly claimed their own right to life, liberty, and happiness. 5pm, Herter Hall 601, UMass Amherst.
Tuesday, November 29 | The Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Record
A panel discussion with Veronica McNair, Elaine Arsenault, Donald Perry, and Jafet Robles. These four western Massachusetts residents will share their experiences with incarceration, providing a first-hand, human perspective on the effects of being directly impacted by the carceral state Co-hosted with Project Operation Change. 6pm, Herter Hall 601, UMass Amherst.
Wednesday, November 30 | Information Session and Know Your Rights Workshop for Immigrant Students and Their Allies with Local Immigration Attorney Megan Kludt
President Elect Trump posted a set of promises to his website in October about what he would do about immigration his first day through executive order. These include: (1) eliminating DACA status for "dreamers" -- immigrants who entered as children (2) ending migration of Muslims and canceling visas and (3) deporting 2 million "criminal aliens" -- people with good visas or green cards who've been convicted of any crime, no matter how minor or how long ago. This meeting for immigrant students and their allies is to help explain what rights immigrant students have and what steps we can take to help protect immigrants during a Trump administration. Wednesday, November 30, 6:00pm, UMass Amherst Integrative Learning Center, Room N151.
Tuesday, December 6 | Guns, Law Enforcement and the Over-Policing, Under-Policing Paradox
Lecture by Prof. Jennifer Carlson, Dept. of Sociology, University of Arizona, whose work examines gun politics, policing and public law enforcement, the politics of race and gender, and violence. Co-sponsered by Legal Services and the Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. Tuesday, December 6, 4:00pm-5:30pm, Thompson Hall 919.
Spring Calendar of Events
January 23 - March 3, 2017 | Made in America: Unfree Labor in an Era of Mass Incarceration
Made in America features the work of artists and activists, inside and outside prison, to explore tensions between exploitative prison labor and the creative and intellectual labor of incarcerated individuals. While the former profits state correctional services, private corporations, political interests, and consumers, the latter offers powerful articulations of subjecthood and resistance in the face of a dehumanizing system. Includes work by Sheila Pinkel, Jesse Krimes, Chelsea Hogue (UMass MFA) and Sarah Rice, and incarcerated cartoonists and writers whose work is featured in the digital archives of the Real Cost of Prisons Project. Exhibit Hours: M-F, 10:30-4:30pm, Su, 2-5pm. Opening Reception, Thursday, Feb 2, 5-8pm, Hampshire College Art Gallery, Harold F. Johnson Library, Hampshire College
Monday, February 6 | The Prison in Twelve Landscapes
More people are imprisoned in the United States at this moment than in any other time or place in history, yet the prison itself has never felt further away or more out of sight. The Prison in Twelve Lanscapes is a film about the prison in which we never see an actual peniteniary. Instead, the film unfolds a cinematic journey through a series of landscapes across the USA. A QA with the director, Brett Storey, will follow. Free for members of Amherst Cinema. For non-members, regular ticket prices apply. Presented by the Bellweather Film Series. 7pm, Amherst Cinema, 28 Amity Street, Amherst, MA.
Tuesday, February 7 | Teaching in the Age of Mass Incarceration Curriculum Share
K16 educators participating in the "Teaching in the Age of Mass Incarceration” workshop series will share their lesson and unit plans developed over the course of this year. Lesson plans will address a broad range of content areas and draw from critical perspectives of power and control in society. Presenters will share handouts detailing resources related to their curriculum available for attendees. 5:30-7pm, Center for Design Engagement, 362 Dwight St (at the intersection of Race St), Holyoke, MA.
*** POSTPONED *** Thursday, February 16 | Crack Attack: Los Angeles and the Forgotten History of America's War on Drugs
This event has been postponed until future notice. Lecture by award-winning historian and public intellectual Donna Murch (Rutgers University). Co-sponsored by CMASS and UMass Black Heritage Month 2017. 6pm, Cape Cod Lounge, UMass Amherst Student Center.
Sunday, February 26 | Climbing PoeTree
Multi-voice spoken word, hip hop, and multimedia theater performance in Holyoke, MA by the award winning duo Climbing PoeTree. Co-hosted by Wistariahurst Museum and co-sponsored by CMASS and UMass Black Heritage Month 2017. 7pm, Holyoke War Memorial Building, 310 Appleton St, Holyoke, MA. There will be FREE community buses to the show from Northampton and Amherst.
March 1-30 | States of Incarceration: A National Dialogue of Local Histories, Exhibit and Community Events
Created by over 500 people in 17 states, this interactive, nationally traveling exhibit by the Humanities Action Lab explores the past, present, and future of incarceration, including experiences of incarceration here in western Massachusetts. The exhibit will be in Holyoke, MA from March 1-12 at the Wauregan Bldg (420 Dwight St) and hosted by Wistariahurst Museum. Opening reception at 6pm on March 1. The exhibit will be in Northampton, MA from March 13-30 at Forbes Library (20 West St.), and Historic Northampton (46 Bridge St). Opening reception from 5-8pm on March 13. A full schedule of community programs accompanying the exhibit is forthcoming. Additional events include a Northampton-wide read of Orange is the New Black hosted by Forbes Library, gallery events, a local history installation at Historic Northampton, and more. With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. See www.pv-soi.org for event details.
March 27 | Pelican Bay and the Rise of Long Term Solitary Confinement
Lecture by Keramet Reiter, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Law and Society, University of California, Irvine. Presented by the Five College Legal Studies Seminar and co-sponsored by Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series with the UMass Department of History and the UMass Department of Sociology. 4:00pm, UMass Amherst Campus Center, Room 904.
March 30 | PLUG IN! A Gathering to Change the Things We Cannot Accept, Exhibit Capstone Event
You’ve learned all about the injustice of mass incarceration — now spend an evening with local and statewide organizations working to change it! At this interactive community forum, plug in to advocacy, engagement, support, organizing, and dialogue work that matters. Registration required. Participants will view the States of Incarceration exhibit in advance. This event is hosted by the UMass Alliance for Community Transformation, sponsored by the Feinberg Series, and co-sponsored by the UMass Department of Anthropology. 4:30-7:00pm, Holyoke City Hall Ballroom. 536 Dwight St, Holyoke, MA 01040.
Offerings for K-12 Teachers and Students
K-12 educators and students are welcome at all series events. Financial support is available for school field trips to series events and exhibits. Contact @email for more information.
An associated professional development seminar led by award-winning social justice educator Dr. Antonio Nieves Martinez (UMass Amherst) is accompanying this year's series. This free seminar, Teaching in the Age of Mass Incarceration, is supporting educators across content areas in exploring these issues in their classrooms. PDPs and graduate credit available (additional fees may apply for graduate credit). This series is offered with the Collaborative for Educational Services.
Curricular Connections
Five College students and the general public are invited to enroll in the UMass History Department’s official Feinberg course History 200: “New Approaches to History: Warfare in the American Homeland, Police and Prisons in the US” taught by Professor Chris Tinson. Additional university courses are connected to the series in various ways, including field trips to Feinberg events and class projects contributing to series initiatives. For more information about individual courses, contact the instructor. Courses may be open to the general public upon request. The Feinberg series welcomes additional collaborations from classes at UMass, the Five Colleges, local community colleges and beyond. To inquire about possibilities and to list your course here, contact outreach@ history.umass.edu.
Official Course
- History 200 (UMass): "New Approaches to History: Warfare in the American Homeland, Police and Prisons in the US." Professor Chris Tinson, HS GenEd, more info at SPIRE
Additional Associated Courses, Fall 2016
- First Year Seminar 110PQ (Mount Holyoke College): “The Politics of Inequality,” Professor David Hernandez. More info here
- Gender Studies 333PN (Mount Holyoke College): “Mass Incarceration in the U.S.”Professor Elias Vitulli. Students will attend several events over the course of the fall semester. More info here
- History 150 (UMass): “U.S. History to 1876,” Professor Dan Chard. More info here
- History 151 (UMass): “U.S. History since 1876,” Professor Julie de Chantal. More info here
- History 154 (UMass): “Social Change in the 1960s,” Professor Dan Chard. More info here
- History 220 (UMass): “Capitalism and Alternatives in Latin America,” Professor Kevin Young. More info here
- History 245 (Amherst College): “U.S. Carceral Culture” Professor Jen Manion, more info here
- History 280 (Smith College): “Globalization, Im/migration, and Transnational Cultures,” Professor Jennifer Guglielmo. More info here
- History 373 (UMass): "U.S. Thought and Culture II," Professor Jennifer Fronc. More info here
- History 388 (UMass): "Women's History to 1890," Professor Julie de Chantal. More info here
- History 397DV (UMass): "History of Domestic Violence Law," Professor Jennifer Nye. More info here
- History 398A (UMass): "Career Development Practicum," Mark Roblee. More info here
- History 450 (UMass): "Junior Year Writing Seminar: Latin American Revolutions,"Professor Kevin Young. More info here
- Latina/o Studies 360 (Mount Holyoke College): "Latina/o Studies," Professor David Hernandez. More info here
- Sociology 392J (UMass): "Race and Policing," Professor Benjamin Brucato. More infohere
- University Without Walls Social Justice Residency, more info here
Spring 2017 Courses
- Anthropology 380 (UMass): “Grassroots Community Organizing,” Professor Jen Sandler with the University Alliance for Community Transformation. Students in this course will be active participants in the Local Action Forum
- History 389 (UMass): "US Women's History since 1890," Professor Laura Lovett
- History 397 (UMass): “Public History Workshop: Social Justice Humanities,” Professor Marla Miller. Students will develop projects contributing to the States of Incarceration exhibit.
Transportation & Accessibility
Most campus parking lots are free after 5pm. For earlier events, please use the Campus Center Garage ($1.75/hr) or the metered Visitor Parking Lot (300 Massachusetts Ave, $1.50/hr). Goodell Hall, the Student Center and the Campus Center are a short walk from the Campus Center Garage. UMass Herter Hall is located directly behind the Haigis Mall bus stop and is a short walk from the the Visitor Parking Lot. Click here for bus schedules, and click here for an interactive campus map.
All UMass events are wheelchair accessible. Click here for more information about accessible parking on the UMass campus. Accessibility information forthcoming about off-campus venues. We are working to make all events more accessible to all of our community members. If you have questions or would like to request specific accommodations, please contact @email.
Advisory Committee & Partners
The 2016-2017 Feinberg series was planned by the UMass Amherst History Department in consultation with a community and faculty advisory committee. We thank our advisors: Lois Ahrens (Real Cost of Prisons Project), Elaine Arsenault (Project Operation Change), Vira Douangmany Cage (Western Mass ACLU), David Hernández (Mount Holyoke College), Toussaint Losier (UMass Amherst), Donald Perry (Project Operation Change), Holly Richardson (OutNow, Arise for Social Justice), Jen Sandler (UMass Amherst), Chris Tinson (Hampshire), and Elias Vitulli (Mount Holyoke College). History Department committee members include Marla Miller (co-chair), Jennifer Nye (co-chair), Sigrid Schmalzer, Brian Bunk, and Jessica Johnson, with leadership from History Department Chairs Joye Bowman and Brian Ogilvie and support from the department’s undergraduate, graduate and professional staff: Julie Peterson, Justin Burch, Shakti Castro, Chelsea Miller, Enjoli Pescheta, Kiyanna Sully, Mary Lashway, Suzanne Bell, Amy Fleig, and Adam Howes.
Feinberg Series Co-Sponsors and Partners: Arise for Social Justice, Collaborative for Educational Services, Five Colleges/UMass Graduate Program in History Distinguished Annual Lecture, Forbes Library, Hampshire Gallery of Art, Historic Northampton, Humanities Action Lab, Investigator Initiated Workshop Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities, Open Society Foundation, OutNow, Prison Birth Project, Project Operation Change, Springfield Technical Community College School of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Western Mass ACLU, the Waugeran Building, the Whiting Foundation, Wistariahurst Museum / City of Holyoke, WORTH, and the following UMass Amherst programs and departments: American Studies Program, Anthropology, Center for Popular Economics, Commonwealth Honors College, Legal Studies, Pre-Law Advising Office, Public History Program, Social Thought and Political Economy Program, School of Public Policy, UMass Alliance for Community Transformation, University Without Walls, W.E.B. DuBois Deartment of Afro-American Studies, and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies
Header image credit: "Freedom" by Ronnie Goodman