Education

Courses

UPEP runs yearlong and courses are offered on a two-semester schedule: Fall and Spring. Each semester is 16 weeks and classes meet one day a week for 2.5 hours from 5:10-7:45pm. At minimum, one course per semester is offered. Summer semester is an option for coursework and non-credit activities, such as book clubs, film series, and related academic engagements to enhance for-credit courses.

*At this time, UPEP is a non-credit program. We are actively fundraising to cover costs associated with enrollment. Incarcerated students are not asked to financially pay for participation in UPEP. All costs associated with attendance are covered by the Project.

Teaching & Learning Lab

Each week, students attend a 2.5 hour session geared toward tutoring, writing support, and general academic enrichment. We hope to expand the Teaching & Learning Lab to two times per week as the program grows. It is imperative that students have adequate time to process and intellectually engage with one another and UPEP tutors outside of the classroom, as well as secure time for writing and reflection.

UPEP Book Club

UPEP sponsors a book club in the Lone Peak facility. The goal of this reading group is to facilitate critical thought and discussion while building community. Each 8-week long session is organized around a theme, such as "Classic Models, Contemporary Novels," "Rereading the Past," and "Political Science Fiction."  All books are provided to participants free of charge.

UPEP Creative Writing Workshop

UPEP offers a 6-week creative writing workshop, designed to help students create their own creative writing projects, or continue working on something they've already begun. These workshops include learning techniques from great authors, allowing in-class time to work on writing projects, and setting writing goals for the upcoming week. Genres range from novels and short stories, to poems, essays, autobiographies, family histories, and everything in between. The objectives are to learn specific techniques in the student's chosen genre for creative writing success, and to produce a final project that energizes the students' creative selves and makes them proud.

Summiting new heights lecture series

The UPEP Lectures Series at the prison is an opportunity for all UPEP staff and volunteers, UDC Staff, and UPEP and SLCC students to intellectually engage and learn from a researcher at the University of Utah. UPEP will offer additional engagement activities in the future.