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October 7 Westheimer: Practicing Peace in Prison
by
Wed, Oct 7, 2026
1:50 PM – 3:20 PM EDT (GMT-4)
Watson Library, Library 1
Campus Library<br /> <br /> There is 1 classroom space in this building.
19
Registered
Registration
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Details
Registration is required. Please be sure to register for this session using the OneStop app.
Session Description:
Together, we will consider what it means to teach peace within the U.S. prison system and how these educational spaces can cultivate hope, humanity, and meaningful relationships. Rather than simply talking about our approach, we will invite participants to experience it. Sitting together in a circle, participants will engage in activities and dialogue modeled after practices used in prison classrooms. The facilitators, drawing on their experiences teaching inside correctional facilities, will share how peace education can foster connection, reflection, dialogue, and community within spaces defined by confinement.
Facilitator/presenter bios:
Dr. Laura Mishne Heller is a faculty member at Wilmington College whose teaching and scholarship span social work, criminal justice, and public health, with interests in health equity, education, and justice system reform. A dedicated faculty member in Wilmington College’s Prison Education Program, she advocates for expanding higher education opportunities for people who are incarcerated. She collaborates with the Ohio Innocence Project on education and dialogue around wrongful convictions and supports death penalty abolition through partnerships with Ohioans to Stop Executions and the Catholic Mobilizing Network. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for UpSpring, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit that helps remove educational barriers for children experiencing homelessness.
Link to learn more about Laura: www.linkedin.com/in/laura-mishne-heller-ph-d-lisw-s-39a777245
Link to learn more about Laura: www.linkedin.com/in/laura-mishne-heller-ph-d-lisw-s-39a777245
Aaron Nell currently works in Wilmington College's Prison Education Program. He graduated from Wilmington in 1995 and was inspired to study the prison system after playing music at a graduation ceremony in Warren Correctional Institution, the facility where he now serves incarcerated students. He has volunteered as an Alternatives to Violence Project facilitator for many years. Aaron plays music and writes and shares poems with other makers.
Dr. Jonathan Sparks-Franklin is assistant professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wilmington College. He teaches Peace Studies as well as Religion and Philosophy on the Wilmington College main campus as well as with the WC PEP program. He has a PhD in Religious Studies from Indiana University, an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an MTS from United Theological Seminary. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, Dr. Sparks-Franklin is an active member of the Third Way Peace Fellowship, "a community of radical peacemakers serving Cincinnati neighborhoods through vegan food outreach, mutual aid, and innovative theological gatherings exploring the spirituality of active nonviolence."
Dr. Jonathan Sparks-Franklin is assistant professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wilmington College. He teaches Peace Studies as well as Religion and Philosophy on the Wilmington College main campus as well as with the WC PEP program. He has a PhD in Religious Studies from Indiana University, an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an MTS from United Theological Seminary. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, Dr. Sparks-Franklin is an active member of the Third Way Peace Fellowship, "a community of radical peacemakers serving Cincinnati neighborhoods through vegan food outreach, mutual aid, and innovative theological gatherings exploring the spirituality of active nonviolence."
Where
Watson Library, Library 1
Campus Library<br /> <br /> There is 1 classroom space in this building.