Building bridges: Implementing university internationalization in contexts of deprivation of liberty

Abstract

This article reports on the systematic account of the experience of an academic initiative developed through international cooperation between teaching teams at the National University of the Center of the Province of Buenos Aires (UNICEN) and the University of the Republic (Udelar). It concerns higher education in contexts of deprivation of liberty in prison facilities in each country, where both institutions have established and co-managed university classrooms.

The work’s methodology was organized around a synchronous online course conducted in May and June 2024, comprising five weekly synchronous virtual sessions. Classes were organized in collaboration by the two teaching teams, and a virtual platform was used for disseminating reading materials, producing assignments, and participating in weekly forums. The main objective of the course was to strengthen the inclusion of students in deprivation of liberty into university life, expanding educational opportunities and access to quality education, and proposing internationalization tools as facilitators of educational processes in confinement contexts. Regarding content, emphasis was placed on promoting civic education from a Human Rights perspective, and on analyzing the collective and political organization of those who study during confinement, with a gender perspective.

This paper presents an analysis of the trajectory and reflections arising from the exchange, the processes of institutionalization of innovative proposals for education in confinement contexts, and the ways of evaluating the implementation of experiences of university student organization within confinement contexts.