Justice, Mercy, and Education Behind Bars

Presented on: Tuesday, September 22nd at 12:00 PM PDT




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Join us for an educational conversation with our very own WSU Professor and Alumna, Dr. Anna Plemons, and her co-host and advocate of the Arts in Corrections, Carol Hinds.  If you are a member of the Well Read Cougs Book Club, this event will connect our reading, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, with education on our current prison systems. 

About Our Presenters:

Dr. Anna Plemons, a two-time WSU alumna (2000, 2014)  is passionate about issues of educational justice and sees that a huge part of how we make change in the world is by writing and telling our stories.  She currently enjoys the privilege of being both the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Washington State University Tri-Cities and an assistant professor in the Digital Technology and Culture program.  In both of these roles, Anna gets to work closely with students as they pursue their dreams.  Since 2009, she has also taught creative non-fiction through the Arts in Corrections in the California state prison system.  In 2019, Anna was named WSU’s Woman of the Year.  And her book, Beyond Progress in the Prison Classroom: Options and Opportunities, in which she discusses her experiences teaching creative writing in the prison, was released this last November. 

Carol Hinds is married 43 years and living in Los Angeles, she is retired from a 40 year career in healthcare.  She is the parent of an inmate who is serving a 25 year to life sentence which he began in 2000, at the age of 18.  She has served more than 17 years on two Inmate Family Councils since her son has been incarcerated.  She is also a member of the Statewide Inmate Family Council at CDCR Headquarters in downtown Sacramento.  In addition to advocating for families as a member of these Councils, she has become an advocate and speaker for the Arts in Corrections program sharing personal stories that reflect the positive and healing effects that art, music and creative writing have had on her son and others in prison.  The Arts in Corrections program has saved many lives.  Advocating for it has become a lifeline and a pathway of opportunity for her to be involved in the prison process in a positive way.