It Started with Poetry
A 鶹ѰEnglish professor takes new students under his wing at a Colorado state prison.
At first the idea was for Adam Bradleyto show up once and talk about poetry andpop culture, one of his academic specialties.
Then he met the inmates of the ArkansasValley Correctional Facility face to face.
Bradley, a 鶹ѰEnglish professor, sawhe might be useful to them, but also thatlessons in rhyme and meter weren’t whatthey needed or wanted most.
Four years later, he’s leading a small鶹ѰBoulder team that’s helping inmatesof Arkansas Valley, a state prison east ofPueblo, teach each other — not poetry,political science or physics, but personaltransformation.
Working closely with Derek Briggsand Elena Diaz-Bilello of CU’s School ofEducation, Bradley is helping a handfulof driven prisoners develop a rigorouscurriculum with clear learning objectivesand measurable outcomes.
The goal, Bradley said, is to help “movepeople from a position of being takers,people who are acting in ways that are destructive,into people who are builders.”
The project draws less on his scholarlyexpertise than on his pedagogical and organizationalskills and his willingness tolisten and share, and that’s fine with him.
“Whether you are in Hellems or in acorrectional facility, the rudiments ofthe classroom don’t change,” he said.“It’s about interaction, how to keep ideasflowing, how to let as many voices as youcan join the conversation.”
So far, Bradley has visited ArkansasValley three times and spent many hourson the phone with the inmate driving theproject, Rhidale Dotson, who’s serving alife sentence without possibility of parolefor his role in a murder. In the future,Bradley expects to visit almost monthly.
It’s a matter of citizenship, he said,of belief in the possibility of change, ofmaking the most of his privileged positionin society as a university professor.
“I’m committed to ensuring that wedon’t throw people away,” he said.
Photo by Glenn Asakawa