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FROM LECTURE HALLS TO BEHIND THE WALL | LIFE, INSIDE OUT
02/05/2026
FROM LECTURE HALLS TO BEHIND THE WALL | LIFE, INSIDE OUT
While prisons in the United States offer a variety of educational pursuits, it only took a brief conversation between a college educator and an incarcerated individual for the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program to be born. Four decades later, the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program is still going strong, thanks to Founder, Lori Pompa. Lori’s vision to bring her students, from Temple University to interface with incarcerated individuals, in a unique classroom setting, behind the wall, was not only a leap of faith but ahead of its time. In Lori’s own words, “It is a class, though not an ordinary one. In this class roles are intermingled; everyone is the teacher, and everyone is the learner.” Staying in step with her college classes timeline and curriculum, this powerful education model changed the narrative for all. Once a week for an entire college semester, students around the world arrive at local prisons and sit in Lori’s now famous circle of curriculum, compassion, and collaboration. All these years later, this innovative model continues to foster dialogue and understanding between incarcerated individuals and college students while continuing to grow organically. Today more than 1600 college/university professors, along with other educators, and 15 countries around the globe, teach Inside-Out courses.
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