The JCI Prison Scholars Program

Category: guest lecturer

  • Topics in the Humanities, Feb 16 2016

    Topics in the Humanities, Feb 16 2016

    Guest post by Sean Almond in response to class visit by conceptual artist Hugh Pocock

    I enjoyed the presentation you gave here at JCI. Your work and thoughts really opened my eyes to  new concepts of what art is, or could be. I thought that your piece “Volume” was brilliant. To utilize the museum’s own air system and the claim the air as your own, that was great. I also felt a connection to your invitation to dinner, showing how much technology is relied on even in the simplest aspects of our lives. Being in prison, I understand this, just from my interactions with family and friends, and how society is losing the more or less intimate art of communication. Everything is very impersonal now.

    I always thought of art as sort of “high-minded,” involving masterpieces, etc., and saw my own drawing as mundane, or mediocre. Through your work, I think I have a better understanding of art, and that it’s a more personal expression, and not confined to one particular set structure.

    Your work is now an inspiration to me, reminding me not to confine myself to a box, and to look at the world a little differently.

     

     

     

  • Topics in the Humanities Feb 9 2016

    Topics in the Humanities Feb 9 2016

    Guest post by Shane Barnett

    We were honored to have Professor Paul Jaskunas from MICA present to us the first chapter of his novel “Cybelle” this past Tuesday, a story about the coming of age of a rural West Virginia girl battling to overcome mediocrity. In his first chapter, Jaskunas illustrates the struggle of Cybelle to maintain her dysfunctional family while still managing to meet the demands of college so that she can attain the means to her lofty aspirations. So far, “Cybelle” is a somber story of the personal struggle that so many of us daily face. Such is life.

    Professor Jaskunas captivated his audience with his soft-spoken narration of the very intriguing depths of female nature, dealing with men and sex and where these things can lead when haphazardly approached. The story so far seems to be a description of the age-old inter-relationship of woman to man in using her assets to obtain the security she needs for survival, as she tries to overcome her dependence upon him – a vicious cycle of give-and-take that so often is our existence.

    Our class became a panel of critics full of questions and suggestions for the author. We wanted to know why he does what he does and how he does it. We wanted him to tell us more. What does Cybelle look like? Where is her story headed? Is she destined for success and the proverbial happy ending, or failure and tragedy? We did our best to exhume the details from the mind of our subject in order to ascertain the motive for his composition and the objectives for his forlorn heroine. From what I can gather, Cybelle has a long hard road ahead, but where that road leads has yet to be seen, even by Jaskunas himself, as he leaves us with awesome insight for our own development of plots and characters. “Let your characters be as chemicals in a scientific experiment … create conditions for them and see what reactions ensure…”

    Good luck, Cybelle!