The Stanford Jail and Prison Education Program (SJPEP) is a graduate-student–run, interdisciplinary initiative that connects Stanford’s academic community with incarcerated individuals at Bay Area jails and prisons. It fosters “two-way learning” in dynamic, decentralized classrooms where Stanford graduate students co-teach educational seminars alongside incarcerated learners, emphasizing mutual enrichment and collaborative inquiry. Associate Professor Sarah Brayne is a Faculty Sponsor, sociology PhD student Maddie Anderson serves as Outreach and Accreditation Chair, and multiple graduate students teach classes with the program. 

SJPEP offers a range of unique course themes—examples have included Disasters: Devastation, Community and Rebirth, Art and the Brain, History and Repetition, and Great Innovations. These courses are co-taught by teams of Stanford graduate students who alternate between teaching and learning roles alongside incarcerated participants—a hallmark of SJPEP’s pedagogical model.

The program has had significant impact, providing incarcerated learners with opportunities for intellectual engagement and personal growth, while giving graduate instructors valuable teaching experience and deeper insight into issues of justice, inequality, and education. By cultivating shared knowledge and dialogue across prison walls, SJPEP contributes to transformative experiences that ripple beyond the classroom.