University Education in Prison: the ethnographic story of a (participatory) research journey

University education in prison has expanded significantly in recent decades, supported by the recognition of education as a fundamental human right and by its transformative potential in contexts of deprivation of liberty. Drawing on a university teaching experience in prison, this article presents Higher Education in Prison: Needs Analysis (HEPNA), a participatory research project that involves incarcerated students as co-researchers in defining aims, tools, and practices. The article argues that participation in research can transform students’ relationships to themselves and to the knowledge they produce and mobilize.