ABOUT THE JIE INITIATIVE.

Transforming the lives of those impacted by incarceration

Established at Columbia University with the generous support of the Mellon Foundation, the Justice-in-Education Initiative works with other university and community-based organizations to run courses, workshops, and creative projects on campus, in local prisons, and at the Rikers Island jail complex.

Our programs open channels of communication and collaboration between Columbia faculty and students, communities affected by incarceration, and the public at large for a more just and socially conscious system of higher education.

“In this environment people are labeled, treated suspiciously and thought of as criminals. In order to believe in rehabilitation, there has to be a belief that change is possible.”

Former JIE Student
Our Mission

Supporting the Incarcerated

The Justice-in-Education Initiative is a collaboration between The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities and the Center for Justice at Columbia University. Thanks to the generosity of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we are developing Columbia’s capacity to:

Keep up with what we’re doing

Newsletter

How we follow through

Our Programs