Why deliver the Arts in a Prison? (online course)

This class will be taught online and you can take part from the comfort of your own home. The RCS campus is open with a limited capacity for degree students only to ensure a safe learning environment for all.

This weekly evening online class for creative practitioners aged 18+ is designed to provide an introduction to the wider discourse surrounding the Arts in criminal justice in Scotland, the UK and internationally.

Through participating in tutor-led sessions participants will explore historical and contemporary thinking about criminal justice in our society and the role that art can play in supporting individuals and communities that are part of this system.

The course will provide participants with understanding of the practicalities of planning creative work for delivery in a prison and offer insight into some of key themes for working in this environment.

The weekly class will be 2 hours long and participants will be expected to undertake up to 2 hours of additional independent research on a weekly basis in order to deepen their relationship to ideas explored in class.

Please see How Does an Online Course Work? section for information about how the course will run and what you need to do in advance. When booking the course you will be asked to agree that you have read and understood our Pre-HE OnlineTeaching Policy.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this course before you book it, please get in touch with us at shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk. If you would like to be kept up to date with developments and future courses, please join our mailing list.

(Course image credit: Scottish Prison Service)

This course is designed for creative practitioners 18+ who are interested in exploring the design and delivery of artistic projects in a prison context.

We ask that participants are self-motivated and willing to undertake research at home throughout the course, as well as contribute to ongoing group discussion.

Promotional Offers

We offer a selection of promotional offers for our Short Courses, take a look!

To receive the promotional offer code, contact shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk before booking a course.

Agnes Allan Bursary

Agnes Allan was a teacher, passionate about inclusion, and this bursary scheme exists to offer support to students to participate in the performing or production arts.

The Agnes Allan Bursary provides some support to students who may require financial assistance to take part in a short course in dance, drama, music, production or screen.

Anyone who wishes to take part in our Short Courses and faces a financial barrier can apply for bursary support to help meet the cost of tuition fees.

More information about the Agnes Allan Bursary. 

The course will run on Wednesday evenings from 6.30 – 8.30pm. We expect students to log in to the online platform at 6.20pm each week so the class can start promptly at 6.30pm.

The course will run through Microsoft Teams and the ‘live’ online sessions via Zoom. In advance of the course you will be added to a class group within MS Teams. The links/password for each Zoom session will be posted with the chat function of this group. This will also be used as a place for discussion, sharing of materials and of course work.

You will need access to a device such as a desktop computer, laptop or tablet which allows you to access the internet with a screen large enough to see the group members during online sessions.

You will need internet connection which is fast enough to take part in video sessions on MS Teams/Zoom.

You may also want to consider whether you have a space you can use where you can work without interruption. Please keep in mind that the other students taking part in the course will be able to see what’s behind you when you are online.

If you have any questions in advance of booking, please contact us at shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk

How will the course be delivered?

The course will be delivered using a mixture of live teaching sessions and structured activities for students to undertake at home.

All students will be added to a Microsoft Teams class group where course resources will be available, and the ‘chat’ function can be used to communicate with the tutor and group through text message.

The live group sessions will be delivered using Zoom which allows the group to see everyone who is taking part. Students may be put into discussion groups and tools such as ‘whiteboard’ or ‘screen share’ may be used to share visual information with students.

What safety precautions are in place?

The MS Teams groups which host each summer school group are private and members will be added by the RCS Short Courses team. Please note, students’ emails will be visible to other group members.

When using Zoom to teach the live sessions, our teaching staff will be using RCS licensed accounts and all meeting links and passwords will be posted only on the MS Teams group page. Each meeting will have a unique password, and our staff will use the waiting room function to ‘admit’ students to the session.

You may find it useful to read our Online Teaching Policy for detailed information about security and safeguarding.

I am in a different time zone, can I still take part?

As long as you are able to take part in the live teaching sessions throughout the course, you are very welcome to join our short courses from anywhere in the world.

Are there any resources that I will need in order to take part in the course?

The most important resources you will need are those that let you take part comfortably in the online activity. You will need access to a device such as a desktop computer, laptop or tablet which allows you to access the internet with a screen large enough to see the group members during online sessions. You will need internet connection which is fast enough to take part in video sessions (for example, like you would using Skype or Zoom) and to watch film footage.

You may also want to consider whether you have a space you can use where you can work without interruption. Please keep in mind that the other students taking part in the course will be able to see what’s behind you when you are online.

What happens if I miss a class?

We will not record the live teaching sessions, but if you miss one, your tutor will do their best to help you catch up and continue participating in the course. There will be sections of activity that you undertake at home with resources and support from your tutor during which you can find out what you have missed and prepare for the next live session.

Jess Thorpe is the Lecturer in the Arts in Justice at the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow. In this role she is involved with designing creative projects with prisons and communities affected by crime and has worked in Scotland and internationally in this area of research. She is founder member and trustee of Justice and Arts Scotland (formally SPAN) and published work including; Tightrope; A Performance Project in HMP Perth (2012), A Little Patch of Sky; and Working in Scottish Prisons, An Artists Guide (2015) for Creative Scotland and This is not one story (2018). She is a BBC Expert Woman and in 2019 was named one of Big Issue Magazine Changemakers.

Outside of RCS Jess Thorpe is Associate Director of Dundee Rep and Scottish Dnace Theatre and co-artistic director of the award-winning theatre company; Glass Performance.

Her first book A Beginners Guide to Devising Theatre, co-authored with Tashi Gore was published by Bloomsbury in 2019.