Going Upstate: what does living with so many prisons nearby mean to us?

Going Upstate: what does living with so many prisons nearby meant to us?

A webinar with Kristin Doughty, Assoc. Professor of Anthropology and
Joshua Dubler, Assoc. Professor of Religion, both at the University of Rochester

When you live in a country that cages two million people, the widespread feeling that prisons exist someplace “over there” is half social engineering and half illusion. For generations, prisons have been sited out in the country, and people are shuttled across the state to fill them. But the prison’s reach may be felt all around us: in missing family and friends; in those loved ones returning home changed, in the public and private interests that comprise what Angela Davis called “the prison industrial complex;” in the “crime” around which so much of our politics is predatorily oriented; and in the shriveled notion of “justice” that for most Americans marks that concept’s limits of possibility. What effect does mass incarceration have on our communities? These scholars’ work examines how the high saturation of prisons, jails, and federal immigrant detention facilities in upstate New York shapes our region. Kristin Doughty and Joshua Dubler teach an ethnography course called “The Cultural Politics of Prison Towns.”

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Upcoming Events

How to Interpret the Constitution: A Citizen’s Guide

Free webinar sponsored by the National Constitution Center. Featuring author Cass Sunstein with his new book, How to...

Going Upstate: what does living with so many prisons nearby mean to us?

A webinar with Kristin Doughty, Assoc. Professor of Anthropology and
Joshua Dubler, Assoc. Professor of Religion, both at the...

Endocrine Disruptors in Plastics: State Policy Options

 What do we know about EDCs in plastic? What are they doing to our health and what are the most effective, politically feasible...

Safeguarding American Democracy: Civic Literacy for a Secure Nation

In 2022, the average score among U.S. eighth graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress’s (NAEP) civics assessment...

Board meeting

Members are welcome. Contact the President for a zoom link.

2023 Annual Virtual Luncheon - Nuestro Barrio, Rochester’s Future: A focus on the current public safety issues facing the El Camino Neighborhood.

At Ibero, we believe this is a collective matter we need to address and engage with for better solutions. We are convening community...
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