Make visible what is hidden in plain sight.

Public anthropology addresses some of the more pressing debates of our time - in this case, mass incarceration - for an audience beyond the academy.

In this sense anthropologists bear witness to lives lived beyond the purview of many in the larger society. Yet, within the context of the world in which we now live, the role of anthropology necessitates a more radical stance; to make visible that which is hidden in plain sight.

The project fosters a creative public space for incarcerated peoples’ perspectives that bring to the fore historical and political questions, that is ethics, into the heart of both academic discussions and public debates about what confinement, punishment and rehabilitation might mean in the 21st century context. At the same time, we utilize the tools of anthropological analysis to begin a public engagement within and between communities inside and out.