Film + Discussion on Prison Education

Join us for a film and community conversation about prison education: its power to transform the lives of students and faculty, and the challenges of teaching and learning in the carceral space.

CLASSROOM 4 | DCP | 2025 | Directed by Eden Wurmfeld | USA | 39 minutes

Winner of the Jury Award for Best Documentary at Aspen Shortsfest, CLASSROOM 4 follows an award-winning history professor, Reiko Hillyer ’91, as she leads a group of students, half incarcerated and half undergraduates from a local college, in a class titled “The History of Crime and Punishment in the United States.” The film challenges the invisibility of incarcerated people, reveals the consequences of mass imprisonment for everyone, and emphasizes the importance of these programs to bring together the incarcerated and free to meet and know one another. 

Followed by a panel discussion bringing together two models of prison education: the Inside-Out Prison Exchange at Lewis & Clark College and the Yale Prison Education Initiative. This open dialogue invites us to consider what becomes possible when incarcerated students are given access to a rigorous liberal arts education. We welcome all, especially students, educators, and community members directly impacted by incarceration, to participate in this open dialogue.

Executive producers: Edward Norton ’91 and Tracey Bing ’91

Panelists: Maurice Blackwell (YPEI alumnus), Kyle Gonzalez (YPEI alumnus), and Reiko Hillyer (Lewis & Clark College)

Moderator: Elizabeth Hinton, Yale professor of Black studies, history, and law

Free and open to the public! No registration required. 

Presented by the Whitney Humanities Center, Yale Prison Education Initiative, Yale Institute on Incarceration & Public Safety, and the Law and Racial Justice Center