Globe and Mail coverage for humanities course

In a feature story in the Globe and Mail, Associate Professor Audrey Yap, from the Department of Philosophy, discusses the humanities course she created that brings together UVic students and incarcerated students from Wilkinson Road jail. Students Kathleen Fox and Hanum Yoon-Henderson comment on their experience as part of the class. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Audrey Yap says teaching a course inside a Vancouver Island prison, with a mix of inmates and regular university students, upended the usual dynamics of a classroom.

The University of Victoria philosophy professor found the inmates refreshingly blunt. “If they think you’re just trying to make something up, they will say, ‘Is that true?’ They will call you on things. Most of them haven’t had much, if any, university experience," Prof. Yap said. “Maybe they just felt like it was okay to tell me if they thought a particular philosopher was kind of a fascist.”

Meanwhile, the university students adopted an unconventional demeanour during the humanities course, held last fall at the Victoria-area Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre, which houses all security levels of male prisoners.

“They didn’t treat it like a standard university classroom, where you’re concerned with giving the right answer all the time and looking smart in front of everybody. They treated it like a genuine place to explore other people’s ideas and learn.”

Read the full story in the Globe and Mail. Yap also spoke to CTV's "Your Morning" program about the course.