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Our Team

Staff

The Center for Prison Education staff is comprised of a Program Manager and CPE Fellow.

• Current Staff

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    Cathy Lechowicz, Director, Center for Community Partnerships

    Cathy oversees the various components of the CCP, including the Green Street Arts Center, Office of Community Service and Volunteerism, Service-Learning Center, CPE, and also PIMMS (Project to Increase Mastery of Math and Science). Her areas of expertise include university-community partnership development and innovative programs addressing educational inequalities. She received a B.S. in Education from the University of Virginia and an MPA from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service.

    Alexis Sturdy, CPE Fellow

    Lexi became the CPE Fellow in June 2010 after graduating with honors from Wesleyan's Sociology Department.  As a founding member of the CPE, Lexi has played an integral role in our program since its inception.  Her senior year, she served as our Student Coordinator and was responsible for organizing and supervising the volunteer programs at York Women's Facility and Connecticut Juvenile Training School, a facility for youth offenders.  Additionally, throughout her time as an undergraduate, Lexi led academic workshops at York Women's Facility in creative writing, Sociology and Mathematics.

Faculty

Professors teach the same courses in prison that they teach on Wesleyan's main campus.

• Current and Past Professors

  • Fall 2011:

    • Priscilla Meyer, Professor of Russian Language and Literature

    • Michael Keane, Professor of Mathematics

    • Beth Richards, Director of Rhetoric and Professional Writing, University of Hartford

    • Christopher Anderson, Professor of Political Science, University of Hartford

    Spring 2011

    • Richard Buel, Professor of History, Emeritus

    • Elizabeth Bobrick, Visiting Professor of Classical Studies

    Fall 2010

    • Lori Gruen, Professor of Philosophy

    • Jason Wolfe, Professor of Biology, Emeritus

    Spring 2010

    • Michael McAlear, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

    • Melanye Price, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University

    Fall 2009

    • Beth Richards, Director of Rhetoric and Professional Writing, University of Hartford

    • Charles Lemert, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus

Volunteers

Volunteers are an integral part of our team.  We engage Wesleyan main-campus students as Writing Tutors and Teaching Assistants, and as interns.  Wesleyan students also run academic workshops in pairs at York Prison for Women in Niantic, CT.  

• Current Volunteers

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    Romaine A. Campbell, Teaching Assistant, Cultural Mathematics

    Zachary Fishman, Teaching Assistant, The Real McCoy

    Alexandra Ellerbeck, Writing Tutor

    Marie Mencher, Writing Tutor

    Cara Tratner, Forum Facilitator

    Maddie Neufeld, CPE Intern

    Liza Parisky, CPE Intern
    

Faculty Advisory Board

Composed of Wesleyan faculty members from each academic division, our committee oversees the application process for incarcerated students and approves the slate of courses taught in prison each year, as well as all adjunct appointments.  The committee was responsible for guiding the evaluation and assessment process over the 2009-2011 pilot period.

• Current Faculty Committee
  • Katja Kolcio, Associate Professor of Dance and Chair of Dance

    Magda Teter, Associate Professor of History and Director of Jewish and Israel Studies Program
    

    
     

Advisory Board

Our Advisory Board has the task of envisioning the future of the CPE, collectively engaging the complex and emerging issues of a small and ambitious initiative. It considers the scope and character of program growth at Cheshire Prison and into additional correctional facilities and evaluate opportunities for collaboration with other programs, institutions and state agencies.

• Current Advisory Board
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    • Greg Berman

    • Majora Carter

    • Katherine Eyster

    • Randy Ezratty

    • Max Kenner

    • Michael Lawlor

    • Cathy Lechowicz

    • Russell Perkins

    • Theodore Shaw

    • Alexis Sturdy

    • Andrew Szegedy-Maszak