Conway, Kerr Speak To Concord Students In PBH Prison Plan

Two faculty members have given lecture summaries of their University courses to inmates of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord.

John J. Conway, lecturer on History, and Harry P. Kerr, assistant professor of public speaking, spoke at the prison last week as part of the Phillips Brooks House prisons program.

Conway, who teaches Social Sciences 6, "Freedom and Authority in the Modern World," lectured to the men and then answered questions for an hour and a half. He described his experience inside the prison as "chilling and very salutary," and said more people should do similar work.

Kerr, who had visited the institution earlier this year, called its atmosphere both "impressive and depressing." Like Conway, he was especially affected by the "building itself, the thickness of the bars reaching to the ceiling, and the size of the cells."

Because of a lack of space in the prisons, PBH can use only 65 volunteers a year, although over 500 students have indicated an interest in teaching. Last year Bruce Chalmers, Gordon McKay Professor of Metallurgy, delivered a talk on crystallography to a class at the maximum security institution at Walpole.