UVic brings students and inmates together to tackle life's big questions

Students at the University of Victoria will soon join inmates at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre for a new learning experience — and maybe even a fresh view on life. 

Beginning Sept. 5, a new philosophy course will unite 10 undergraduates with 10 incarcerated students for three months of deep introspection at the Wilkinson Road jail. The program is a partnership between UVic's humanities faculty and B.C. Corrections. 

Every week, students will meet at the jail to discuss great works of poetry, literature and philosophy — from Albert Camus to the late American poet Mary Oliver — as well as delve into the principles and practices of restorative justice. 

The class is the brainchild of Audrey Yap, an associate professor of philosophy, who hopes the course will offer inmates a valuable resource to help them navigate life when they're out. Studies have repeatedly shown that inmates who receive education demonstrate a reduced risk of recidivism. 

Yap is also optimistic the class will grant everyone enrolled with a new way of looking at the world.

"You get really used to talking to people who've had really similar life experiences as you," she told listeners of CBC's All Points West. "It's not until you actually spend time with and talk to [and] intellectually engage with people who've just had different lives, [who come from] different backgrounds, that you realize just how much more is out there in the world."

Yap developed the seeds of the project with former student Adam Donaldson. The pair ran a pilot project last year at the Wilkinson Road jail, working with incarcerated students in the Right Living Community, a social support program that incorporates role-modelling and peer accountability to encourage positive personal growth. 

She now holds a weekly reading group with inmates. 

"I have really interesting conversations with them every week about philosophy, literature, life, religion," Yap said. "Sometimes I bring the readings, sometimes they bring the reading."

This is not the first time Vancouver Island university students will partner with local inmates. Since 2016, Vancouver Island University has offered students the chance to study criminology alongside incarcerated students at the Nanaimo Correctional Centre.

The program was inspired by a course developed at Philadelphia's Temple University 20 ago.