In this deeply stirring account, Jean Trounstine, who spent 10 years teaching at Framingham (MA) Women's Prison, focuses on six inmates who, each in her own way, discover in the power of Shakespeare a way to transcend the painful constraints of incarceration. Shakespeare Behind Bars is a powerful story about the redemptive power of art and education. Originally published in cloth in 2001, the paperback includes a new foreword that will inspire all teachers who work with students others have deemed unteachable. A new afterword updates readers on the prison art's program -- and the author herself -- since 2001.

Shakespeare Behind Bars: One Teacher's Story of the Power of Drama in a Women's Prison

Politics & Social Sciences

Jean Trounstine

Social Sciences

University of Michigan Press/ELT

Disturbed by the lack of real success of prisons in reforming offenders, Robert Waxler, an English professor, and Judge Robert Kane, a former Massachusetts District Court justice, created Changing Lives Through Literature (CLTL)--an educational initiative for criminal offenders based on the idea that studying literature can transform lives. Since its founding in 1991, CLTL has won numerous awards and been featured in national media outlets like The New York Times, Parade Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and the Today Show. The CLTL program has also been featured in the new book Every Book Its Reader: The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World by Nicholas A. Basbanes.In Finding a Voice, Waxler and Jean Trounstine (who extended CLTL to female prisoners in 1993) discuss the "how and why" of their unique alternative sentencing program. Along with describing the program's beginnings and the team approach that made CLTL a success, the authors also give a wealth of practical advice for other teachers. Their sample lesson plans, text suggestions, and discussion of controversies faced by CLTL show readers a way of approaching literature with alternative learners everywhere. Jean Trounstine is an author, activist, and Professor of Humanities, Middlesex Community College (MA). Robert Waxler is Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

Finding a Voice: The Practice of Changing Lives through Literature

Robert P. Waxler

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jean Trounstine. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jean Trounstine

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jean Trounstine. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Shakespeare Behind Bars: One Teacher's Story of the Power of Drama in a Women's Prison

Finding a Voice: The Practice of Changing Lives through Literature