NCHEP 12: What's Next: Higher Education in Prison and Its Future(s)

The 12th National Conference on Higher Education in Prison was hosted as a virtual event.

October 11-14, 2022 (on Zoom)

View the SChedule

Thank You!

We would like to send our deepest gratitude to everyone who was involved with the 12th NCHEP. From the people who joined the Community Planning Sessions to presenters and audience members, this conference would not have been as successful without you. We are especially grateful to our Welcome and Keynote speakers (Romarilyn Ralston and Dr. Ruthie Wilson Gilmore) and National Prison Debate League, Maine Department of Corrections and The Educational Justice Institute (TEJI). Congratulations to the Maine DOC Debate team who defeated the MIT Debate team in a 5-0 unanimous decision! Additionally we want to share a special thank you to an incredible teacher, Mr. Eric Reed, and his students at Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility. This conference was elevated by their participation.

Conference Announcements

We are thrilled to announce that the 12th NCHEP's Keynote Address will be given by Dr. Ruth Wilson Gilmore! Join us on October 11, 2022 at 5pmMT for her talk Education and the Abolition Movement: Stories from Our Struggle.

Ruth Wilson Gilmore, 12th NCHEP Keynote Speaker, October 11, 2022, 5pm MT

Dr. Ruth Wilson Gilmore is a Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences and Director of the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics at the City University of New York Graduate Center. A co-founder of many grassroots organizations including the California Prison Moratorium Project, Critical Resistance, and the Central California Environmental Justice Network, Gilmore works on racial capitalism; organized violence; organized abandonment; and abolition as a green, red, and internationalist project of liberation.

Gilmore is author of Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation (Verso 2022); and the prize-winning Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California (UC Press 2007). Change Everything: Racial Capitalism and the Case for Abolition will be published by Haymarket Books in 2023. Gilmore has lectured in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Her internationalist work is featured in the Antipode Foundation documentary Geographies of Racial Capitalism with Ruth Wilson Gilmore (Kenton Card, 2020).

To stay updated about the 12th NCHEP check in on Facebook @OfficialNCHEP and Twitter @OfficialNCHEPWe will continue to add information to this page as it becomes available.

timeline for the 12th NCHEP:

  • February 2022: Conference Announcement
  • April 2022: Conference Theme and Call for Submissions Announced
  • May 2022: Proposal Submissions Due 
  • June 2022: Registration Opens
  • July-August 2022: Proposal Accept/Decline Decisions Sent and Schedule Announced 
  • October 11-14, 2022: 12th NCHEP (virtual) 

Overview of the 12th NCHEP 

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Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals is now closed. Applicants can expect to hear back from the Planning Team sometime in mid-November.

Call for Reviewers

The Call for Reviewers is now closed. Applicants can expect to hear back from the Planning Team no later than Monday, October 21st.

What is the format for presentations at this virtual conference?

ISC presentations will be webinars. Most presenters will be presenting live, though some presentations will be pre-recorded. The webinar Q&A feature will be moderated by Alliance staff.

Financial Aid

Financial Aid applications are now closed. Applicants can expect to hear back from the Planning Team sometime in mid-Novemeber.

Support the Conference

NCHEP is made possible by the generosity and engagement of individuals and organizations. Here’s how you or your organization can help us make this event a success:

  • Volunteer: Share your time and skills by assisting with event logistics in New Orleans. Volunteer applications and additional information will become available once registration opens in January.
  • Donate: Contributions of any size directly support our mission and help us plan NCHEP, our flagship event. Donate today.
  • Sponsor: Partner with us to highlight your organization’s commitment to access to quality higher education in prison. Learn more.

Is this open to the public? 

Yes, this virtual event is free and open to everyone! Please share this page with your network.

When will registration open?

Registration will open in January 2025.

All attendees (except presenters who are currently incarcerated) must register to attend. Because of high demand for this event, we expect to sell out of tickets shortly after registration opens, so please be sure to register as early as possible to secure your spot.

Is pre-registration required? 

Yes. Please register using the link above.

How much does registration cost?

Registration for NCHEP 14 will be $375 ($225 for students).

Will NCHEP 14 be a hybrid conference?

NCHEP 14 will be an in-person conference in New Orleans, Louisiana for everyone except those who are currently incarcerated. Virtual attendance via Zoom will only be possible for currently incarcerated participants during selected events.

When should I plan on arriving in and departing from New Orleans?

We advise attendees to arrive in New Orleans on Wednesday, April 9th and depart on Saturday, April 12th.

The conference will begin the morning of Thursday, April 10th and end the evening of Friday, April 11th. In order to get the full conference experience, we recommend that you not travel on conference days.

How can I request accommodations?

NCHEP will make every effort to support accommodation requests and the full participation of all attendees. You will be able to request accommodations during the registration process.

How can I ask more questions?

Please send us an email at nchep@higheredinprison.org.

How many presentations will there be each day?

Each day of the conference, there will be two sets of scholarly presentations happening at the same time. These are talks where different presenters share their research and ideas. Some presentations will be done individually by one person, and some presentations will be done in groups.

There will also be an expressive arts plenary each day, where creative works such as poems and visual artworks will be presented. Creative works will not be presented by the artist at the conference, but will be displayed/presented/read by conference staff.

What are the presentation tracks?

Each presentation is part of a specific topic or track, which presenters selected when submitting their proposals. These tracks give attendees some more insight into the content of the presentation.

  • Beyond the Classroom: How can higher education in prison impact people, communities, and the world at large?
  • Classroom Culture: How can we build supportive learning environments within the carceral space?
  • Lessons Learned: In order to improve quality practices, what are some of the most valuable lessons you would like to share with prison education programs, practitioners, prospective students, and corrections?
  • Inside Leadership: How can student advisory councils, student government, etc. enrich higher education in prison?

Sponsors of the 12th NCHEP