About OPEEP
The Ohio Prison Education Exchange Project (OPEEP) is led by Dr. Mary Thomas, professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality studies on the Columbus campus, and Dr. Tiyi Morris, professor of African American and African studies on the Newark campus. Morris and Thomas are faculty who direct the project twelve months a year. OPEEP has three primary areas of work: initiating and administering an accredited BA degree program located at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW), supporting combined enrollment courses that bring campus and incarcerated students together for credit-bearing classes in prison locations, and developing and offering sustained academic programming at our partner prison facilities. Together, we are building prison-to-college pathways through innovative teaching & collaborative learning in Ohio prison settings.
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OPEEP Leaning Communities Encourage Collective Practice
OPEEP runs learning communities at three different prison facilities: Liberation at the Margins (LAM) Collective at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, Philosophy for Humans (P4H) at the Southeastern Correctional Institution, and the Department of Deep Discussions at the London Correctional Institution. Each of these learning communities are made up off incarcerated individuals and OSU faculty, students, and staff, who come together to do research, study, learn, and freedom dream.
LAM Collective meets bi-weekly to read and study Black feminist and queer intellectual and political histories and Black social justice movements; develop academic skills; conduct research; and present and publish collaborative pedagogical scholarship on the practice of learning at the margins. P4H meetings begin with a predetermined topic, such as restorative justice, which inspires large group conversations. Members then break down into smaller working groups for exploration of different focuses, including art and creative works, developing a podcast, and drafting a scholarly paper on abolitionist writings. The Department of Deep Discussions centers on various works of utopian and dystopian literature. Members read assorted science fiction and speculative fiction, then engage in facilitated discussions about the texts.
LAM members present at conferences
In October 2025, members of the Liberation at the Margins (LAM) Collective learning community at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) had the opportunity to present at the National Women’s Studies Association conference. Streaming live from ORW, Danielle, Liz, Stormy and Beth hosted a roundtable discussion titled, “Feminist Solidarity at the Ohio Reformatory for Women: Engaging Black Feminisms at the Margins.” Each member spoke, reflecting on the ways that Black feminisms foster connection, critical inquiry, and resistance in and to carceral spaces, as well as the challenges and possibilities of creating feminist intellectual centers in prisons.
Then, in April 2026, LAM members Selena, Roxie, and Liz presented virtually at the National Conference of Higher Education in Prison (NCHEP) .
The result was multiple engaging conversations surrounding how feminist solidarity operates in carceral spaces, how Black feminist principles and pedagogy transform prison classrooms, and what it means to build community across barriers of incarceration and race.
The goal of both presentations was to explain how LAM presents a model for how universities, educators, and activists can engage in feminist solidarity at the margins.
Creating zines with Prof. Kate Shannon
LAM Collective had the honor of hosting a visit with Professor Kate Shannon, who is the 2025-26 Artist Laureate for Ohio State.
Prof. Shannon introduced us to art that responded to gaps and silences in photography archives, including her own work. She also invited the LAM collective to participate in this work by showcasing historical photos of the hair salons at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Each photo that we saw spoke to the lived experiences of these women. This was not only valuable, but purposeful. Prof. Shannon’s activity helped the collective build connections between art, text, and history. We learned that photos have language, that we can each hear different sounds in still images when we take the initiative to listen. We collaborated in critiquing each photograph for hidden language that was unspoken yet closely observed. In doing so, it revealed things that were relevant to our own lives and research.
We also had the pleasure of creating our own zines using copies of the historical photos of the hair salons at the ORW. This activity was especially interesting because the members of our collective are currently working on our own personal hair bios which reflect our lived experiences in our hair journeys. We also experienced the physicality of making a zine with only the supplies within prison. Instead of cutting and gluing things together, we ripped the paper with our hands and created sharp edges with nothing but spit and fingernails. Much like Prof. Shannon’s work explored her own physical relationship and presence within photography archives, the LAM collective was able to physically connect with ORW’s past and assert our embodied presence in the archives
- Hannah & MarKeeta
Mellon grant helps OPEEP expand its reach
In late 2025, OPEEP was awarded an additional grant of $500,000 from the Mellon Foundation. This grant will be used to support our learning communities, expand in-prison academic and intellectual programming, and create workforce development projects in service to humanities higher education in prison until the end of 2028.
Grant activities began during the spring semester and continue to reach more individuals each month. Our three learning communities, located at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW), the London Correctional Institution (LoCI) and the Southeastern Correctional Institution (SCI) have benefitted from guest speakers, film screenings and a variety of new texts that they are reading together.
In addition, groups at several different facilities have been able to attend workshops about the Marvel Universe, addiction and recovery, improv, Reality TV from a Feminist Studies Perspective, yoga, and more.
OPEEP is excited to keep expanding our programming, engage with new audiences, and share our passion for community-based education, advocacy, and outreach.