Opening Reception: Thursday, Jan. 24, 6-8 p.m.
Exhibition: Friday, Jan. 25 - Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008

Guest Lecture Series: Jan. 24, 31, Feb. 7, Feb. 21
Panel Discussion and Presentations: Jan. 31, Feb. 6, 7, 12, 14, 18, 19

Eight linked installations

The Chapel Art Center hosts this beautiful and dramatic traveling exhibition, in collaboration with other campus constituencies, to provide a powerful occasion for paying attention to the facts and experiences of incarceration in the United States.

This exhibition, composed of the work of incarcerated mothers and artists around the country, will assist viewers to become educated and active community members, searching for further information and decent solutions to a major and growing problem in U.S. society.

Guest Lecture Series

Thursday, February 7, 5 p.m., Chapel Art Center
Phyllis Kornfeld, Author: Cellblock Visions: Prison Art in America
Phyllis Kornfeld, an internationally known expert on prison art, has taught art to incarcerated men and women across the United States for twenty-four years. Her widely acclaimed book, Cellblock Visions, Prison Art in America, is a lively collection of inmate artwork, created behind bars--from county jail to death row—presenting powerful images and eloquent quotes that reveal this unseen subculture and illuminate the human faces of its inhabitants. Her expertise has resulted in numerous invitations to speak at prestigious colleges, universities, art centers, and art institutes across the country.

Thursday, February 21, 1 p.m., N. H. Institute of Politics Auditorium
False Imprisonment
Ann Burgess, R.N., D.N.Sc., Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing at Boston College
Burgess is an internationally recognized scholar, researcher, and pioneer in the field of research and treatment for child, adolescent, adult and elderly victims of physical and sexual violence and exploitation. She has authored nine textbooks, ten books, and 135 articles and book chapters on psychiatric nursing, the assessment and treatment of survivors of sexual assault, rape investigation, and the forensic treatment of sex offenders, as well as 6 monographs for the Department of Justice on sex trafficking, child and adolescent sexual victimization, sex offenders, prostitution, and infant and child abductions.

As co-founder of one of the first hospital-based crisis intervention and counseling programs for rape victims in the nation, Dr. Burgess’ landmark research introduced the term and concept of Rape Trauma Syndrome into the treatment community and the criminal justice system. Rape Trauma Syndrome has been used as a legally admissible diagnosis in over 300 appellate court cases. She has worked with the FBI Academy in training special agents on the developmental pathways leading to serial sex-offenders, and has testified as an expert witness in domestic homicide trials. Dr. Burgess is a Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing at Boston College and continues in private practice as a psychotherapist. Her current research interests have expanded to include sex-offenses using the internet and cyberstalking.

Panel Discussions and Presentations

Wednesday, February 6, 1:30-3:30 p.m., Chapel Arts Center
Perceptions and Images of Incarceration, Take 1
Inside or Outside? The perception of incarceration can be very different depending on which side of the wall one is located. Panelist will discuss their experiences interviewing and teaching inmates at the NHSPW, current prison inmates will share their perspective from the inside, and the warden at NH State Prison for Women will discuss her position as a bridge between the inside and outside communities. There will also be a discussion of art as a tool to communicate the prison experience from the inside.

• Elizabeth Holmes, MFA, Librarian, Saint Anselm College
• Anne Botteri, Assistant Vice President of College Communications and Marketing
• Joanne Fortier, Warden, NH State Prison for Women
• Two women currently incarcerated at the NH State Prison for Women

Thursday, February 7, 1-2:15 p.m., N.H. Institute of Politics Auditorium
Perceptions and Images of Incarceration, Take 2
This panel will focus on the perception of inmates as learners and on the prison as an opportunity for education in the liberal arts. Panelists, including three professors and several students, will discuss their personal experiences educating prisoners in philosophy and literature classes.

• Dr. Ann Norton, Professor, English Department
• Dr. Sherry Shepler, Assistant Professor, English Department
• Dr. Edward McGushin, Associate Professor, Philosophy Department

Tuesday, February 12, 5 p.m., Chapel Art Center
Shared Straight: Voices from Inside the N.H. State Prison for Women
This panel will explore digital stories, short, personal, multi-media stories, told from the heart. The stories are first person narratives, two to three minutes in length. They are recorded into a software program using the storyteller’s voice. Photographs and images such as documents, original artwork or any object that can be scanned are added to the story, along with a soundtrack. The result is a powerful medium that captures the essence and emotions of people’s lives

Thursday, February 14, 1-2:15 p.m., N.H. Institute of Politics Auditorium
Incarcerated Families and Communities
This panel will explore the importance of family and community support for the successful reentry and reunification with family of inmates released from prison.

• Dr. Maria McKenna, Associate Professor, Psychology Department
• Dr. Margaret Hayes, Assistant Professor, Nursing Department
• Jill Evans, Director of Women & Family Services, Vermont Department of Corrections

Monday, February 18, 7-8:15 p.m., Perini Lecture Hall
Mercy and Punishment
This panel will discuss the penological practice of incarceration within the context of philosophical, theological, and legal perspectives on punishment and mercy.

• Dr. Max Latona, Professor, Philosophy Department
• Professor Daniel Daly, Instructor, Theology Department
• The Honorable Kathleen McGuire, N.H. Superior Court, Merrimack County

Tuesday, February 19, 1-2:15 p.m., Chapel Art Center
Women Who Work in Corrections
Women who currently work as prison administrators or service providers will discuss the major issues surrounding incarceration and they challenges they and inmates face.

• Joanne Fortier, Warden, N.H. State Prison for Women
• Annette Escalante, Administrator of Programs for Women Offenders & Family Services
• Sgt. Lorraine Lavoie, N. H. State Prison for Women
• Dr. Ceclia Englander, Physician, N. H. State Prison for Women
• Carol Cochrane, Probation & Parole Officer

Generous support for Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers in the United States has been provided by The Ford Foundation.

Cosponsored by the Consortium on Justice and Society,
New Hampshire Institute of Politics, Saint Anselm College.

Image credit: Susan Willmarth, "Interrupted Life," 2005