Presenter: Meadhbh Patrick McDermott

Faculty Sponsor: Deborah Keisch

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Sociology and Anthropology

Session: Poster Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM, Auditorium, A9

ABSTRACT

This project describes the transformative powers of storytelling as a radical act. Capitalism has devalued the meaning of relationship-building and community care, because neither act generates profit. The Prison Industrial Complex has infected every aspect of daily life, focusing on punishment rather than justice. Carcerality is not limited to the criminal justice system; it is present in education, healthcare, local and federal politics, public transportation, and more. With a focus on the imposition of carceralism in educational spaces, an anonymous survey was sent out to students and faculty on the UMass Amherst campus, asking for both personal anecdotes of interactions and experiences with cops on campus and personal visions of what resources they would have appreciated having been available at the time and in the future. These stories will be anonymously displayed as a physical representation of student experiences and opinions on campus safety. This project was inspired by the mass arrest of students and community members on May 7th, 2024 at a pro-Palestine encampment on the UMass Amherst campus. Working alongside the UMass Prison Abolition Collective, we created a story collection project that enabled students to share their personal narratives about their experiences of how emergencies are handled by the UMass administration. When we share and listen to stories our communities and relationships grow stronger and more resilient. While storytelling is a powerfully radical act, even more radical, is the act of listening to the voices and stories of those who have been systematically silenced for far too long.