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About Us

What we are

Philosophy for Humans was formed in autumn of 2021 as OPEEP's first prison-based learning community in order to develop leadership inside and outside SCI to support higher-education in prison on the OPEEP model, a prison-to-college pipeline, and life-long learning. 

Learning communities are a common form of organization in institutions of higher education. Typically, they are a group of students who live together on a residence hall and who share a common interest like a major, career plans, and/or personal development goals. Through partnerships with academic departments, faculty and staff, members of learning communities have exclusive access to activities that tie directly into their academic, professional, and personal success. 

The Ohio Prison Education Exchange Project (OPEEP) is an office at The Ohio State University dedicated to building prison-to-college pathways through innovative teaching and collaborative learning in Ohio prison settings.  The Department of Philosophy partners with OPEEP to offer credit-bearing college courses at local prisons, which bring together both traditional college students and incarcerated students into a common classroom.

Who we are

We are composed of people who are incarcerated at SCI and people who study, work, and teach at Ohio State.  Our community is co-facilitated by Dr. Amy Shuster (staff and associated faculty member of Philosophy), Dr. Alia Dietsch (associate professor in School of Environment and Natural Resources), and Dr. Tristram McPherson (professor of Philosophy). 

Join us!

To express your interest in joining Philosophy for Humans, please contact Dr. Amy Shuster.