ENG 445 - The Prison: A History in Lit

This course investigates the origins of the prison in early America to better understand the ongoing crisis of mass incarceration in the United States. We will read the earliest writings of incarcerated people in England and colonial America alongside depictions of the prison in a variety of literary genres. We will also visit the Rare Books Room and develop skills working with early modern, transatlantic materials in archives. Along the way, we will survey theories of the prison from Plato to Angela Davis.