Ken Burns Presents: College Behind Bars: A Film by Lynn Novick and Produced by Sarah Botstein

2019
TV-14
Rating
Eligible
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Ken Burns Presents: College Behind Bars: A Film by Lynn Novick and Produced by Sarah Botstein - Season 1 episodes (5)

1 Part One: “Nobody ever taught me any of that”
11/25/19
Incarcerated men and women at Eastern and Taconic Correctional facilities are admitted to the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI). When classes begin, they discover they must meet the same high standards as students on Bard College main campus.
2 Part Two: “I’m trying to get home to my family, too”
11/25/19
Students address the difficult circumstances of their past. The debate team prepares to face the University of Vermont. Some make strides academically, as others are sent to the Special Housing Unit, SHU, jeopardizing their education.
3 Part Three: “Every single word matters”
11/26/19
The debate team faces West Point. Seniors embark on their thesis projects. Rodney and Dyjuan’s families visit, while Tamara receives terrible news from home. Shawta reckons with her path to prison and Jule struggles to find work in NYC.
4 Part Four: “Home is a work in progress”
11/26/19
The debate team faces Harvard. Seniors complete their 100-paged thesis projects. Giovannie is sent to the Special Housing Unit (SHU) and might not finish his project. Students at Taconic and Eatern receive their degrees at graduation.
101 6 Minute Preview
11/1/19
Extended trailer for College Behind Bars, which reveals the transformative power of education through the stories of a group of incarcerated men and women trying to earn degrees.

About this show

College Behind Bars is the inspiring, emotional, deeply human story of men and women struggling to earn college degrees while in prison for serious crimes. In four years of study they become scholars, shatter stereotypes, reckon with their pasts, and prepare to return to society. A groundbreaking exploration of incarceration, injustice, race in America, and the transformative power of education.

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