How might we design for communal safety that includes the voices from the impacted, the intelligent, and the institutions of which we serve?

In this class we ask: how might we design for communal safety beyond the prison industrial complex? Through recognizing the prison industrial complex as a design problem, we will explore both how established institutions (like prisons and policing) are impermanent and the possibility of designing beyond them for our communal betterment. Together with partners from the community leading the movement to abolish prisons, you will generate new design concepts of freedom and safety. You will evaluate the prison industrial complex’s inability to invest in communal safety and prototype design ideas that contribute to alternative systems of justice that reject carceral harm. 

In order to inform and inspire our work, we will uplift and center the voices of the impacted, particularly incarcerated folks. Students of all backgrounds are welcome, directly impacted folks, and Black and Brown students are highly encouraged to apply. The class will consist of Stanford students as well as underrepresented members of the community and non-traditional students.

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Teaching Team