Voices of Incarceration (Voices) offers unique opportunities for students to make a difference in the Bay Area and beyond through a hands-on approach to learning about the carceral system.
Voices is a multidisciplinary class focused on the inner workings of the criminal legal system and the people affected by it. The class studies everything from the roles of correctional officers to the experiences of people currently incarcerated. Throughout the term, students take trips to San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and study audio and visual media focused on the foundations of the carceral system. Each week, guest speakers with connections to the prison system like judges, incarcerated people or other community advocates share their knowledge and experiences.
“Voices is a place where I feel most aligned in my role as a teacher-learner,” said Courtney Rein, who teaches the class.
One unique aspect of the class is the connections students make with guest speakers. “In [Voices], you meet people who aren’t just your teachers…It’s about bridging connections with outside people who honestly know more than our teachers do,” said Page Sparks ‘24, a student who took Voices in the 2022-2023 school year.
Current Voices student, Charlotte Lefkowicz ‘25, shared a similar sentiment about connecting with guest speakers. “My favorite thing about [Voices] is the relationships we’re able to make with our guest speakers and our correspondents,” she said. “I’ve never taken [an Urban] class where we interact with the Bay Area or … other communities.”
Beyond homework and in-class speakers, Voices offers many other opportunities for students to engage in their learning. Each week, students write and receive letters from an incarcerated person about topics from the carceral system to books they love. In my letter exchange with Wendy Fong, my correspondent and a resilient mother and daughter — we often talk about our favorite animals, views on the prison system or reminiscence over our favorite songs.
Rein said, “I’m really moved by … the relationships that are built between Voices students and their incarcerated mentors at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) — the way that in those pairings, people discover that truth is just very tangible and real.”
The relationships and community built through learning about the carceral system encourage students to reflect on personal and societal perceptions of systems of mass incarcerations.
Sparks said, “[Voices is] so Urban — it’s so what Urban stands for and what the school preaches about. [It] really [makes] you ask questions about the outer world and [makes] you question your own current beliefs.”
