2023
New exhibition by prisoners and students to be shown on Spike Island
- UCC students study side-by-side with prisoners in pioneering education programme.
An art and digital exhibition by students of the Education Unit in Cork Prison (Cork ETB) and University College Cork (UCC) students will go on display on Spike Island from this Friday, 9 June.
Spike Island was used as a prison from the 1600s onwards, only closing in 2004. Located on 104 acres in the mouth of Cork Harbour, it acted as both prison and fortress and is one of the largest military structures in the world. A digital installation showcasing the work which students have produced in the course of the UCC's Inside-Out collaboration will feature as part of the 2023 exhibition on the historic island.
UCC’s unique Inside-Out programme brought UCC BA Criminology students (‘outside students’) from its leafy campus to inside the walls of Cork Prison’s Education Unit where they learned alongside people living in prison (‘inside students’). It was the first class of its type in Ireland.
For 12 weeks in Cork Prison, Inside and outside students read and debated university-level academic texts on topics, including experiences of stigma and shedding of labels, the importance of using ‘people first’ language, desistance from crime, life in prison during Covid-19, masculinities and identities and the concept of social harm.
Students bonded during large group discussions and over weekly exercises. To facilitate discussion, students sat in a circle, one ‘Inside’ and one ‘Outside’ student; transforming the prison classroom. Project work in small groups during the last three weeks of the term was the highlight of the course and, with the support of Cork ETB art teachers, resulted in students communicating what they learned through creative means.
Changing perceptions
“We are proud to say that our class was the first ever that completed the Inside-Out classroom on the Island of Ireland. Irish Prison University partnerships have existed for a long time, but our class was unique as both ‘Inside Students’ (incarcerated men) and ‘Outside Students’ (College students) learned side-by-side in the prison classroom as equals,” stated Dr Katharina Swirak, Inside-Out Lead, Department of Sociology and Criminology at UCC.
The course culminated in a graduation ceremony, jointly led by Inside and Outside students, during which the UCC Vice-President of Teaching and Learning, Professor Paul Mc Sweeney, and Prison Governor Ger Manley presided.
“The Inside-Out classroom broke down walls and changed perceptions, stereotypes and preconceived ideas. All participants agreed that the classroom experience helped them to grow as persons. Inside students experienced the classroom as a welcome change to the monotony of daily prison life, as a breaking down of the walls and providing a link between both worlds (the Inside and Outside). It also provided confirmation that third-level education can be an ‘opening door for everyone’ and that their voices are important,” stated Professor Paul McSweeney, UCC Vice-President of Teaching and Learning.
The Inside-Out students painted an image of commonly held stereotypes of prisoners and created a video installation and audio essay where they reflect on what it means to remove some of these stereotypical labels.
This work will now be exhibited on Spike Island from Friday, 9 June to the end of August 2023. Further details are available here.