Inside-Out Summer Plans!

Katie D.

May 2, 2009 - 7:00 PM

Wooo hoooo!!!!

I just got off the phone with Lori Pompa, the national director of the Inside-Out Program. (If you don't know what I'm talking about here, please read my thesis blog). Lori was interviewing me as a final stage in my application process to attend Inside-Out training this summer in Philadelphia. We had a wonderful conversation about my experiences with the program, and about my future plans for my thesis and my interest in theories of intergroup dialogue and conflict resolution.

And I'm in the program this summer!

I feel so lucky and blessed to have this chance. The training program is designed for professors who plan to teach Inside-Out classes are their own universities. It is offered through Temple University and includes work with the Think Tank of inmates at Graterford Prison.

This is a huge honor and an amazing opportunity for me. For my thesis, this will mean a chance to explore the Inside-Out Program's philosophy and methods from a teaching standpoint, and to talk with the founders and thinkers behind a program I have come to love so much. And from a personal perspective, I get to spend a week in Philadelphia studying teaching, dialogue, and the criminal justice system. While this might not sound like a great vacation plan to everyone out there, to me this is something to be very, very excited about.

Plus, it seems like the Universe is saying "yes" to my thesis plans. Let's hope it stays that way!