It’s hard to imagine having a class discussion anywhere but a classroom.

However, this spring, having a class discussion inside a prison and among incarcerated women will become a weekly routine for some Baker students.

Jacob Bucher, assistant professor of sociology, gives students the opportunity to experience this type of learning experience through his Inside-Out Prison Exchange class offered in the spring semester.

“This class hits you at a different level than other classes,” Bucher said. “Both because of the depth of what we’re talking about and also the bond that (the students) create with the outside and inside students.”

The concept of the class began in the late 1990s when a Temple University professor took her class on a prison tour. The class was set up in panel form, with the students asking incarcerated men and women questions. One incarcerated man mentioned having a whole semester of discussion between the prisoners and the students. The teacher took the idea and created a course inside the prison in which the class composed of half college students and half incarcerated students.

When Bucher heard of this idea at a conference, he immediately knew it was something he wanted to bring to Baker.

“I said, ‘I’m on board,’ you know,” Bucher said. “This is right up my alley as far as what I want to do. So, I brought it back to Baker … this is our fourth year.”

The content of the upper-level sociology course varies from year to year.

This year, the topic will be social identity.

“Last year, the class was criminal justice,” senior Jeff Milton said. “One class session we talked about victimization, and we realized that everyone in the class, whether they were a Baker student or an inside student, that everyone had some point in their life had been victimized in one way or another.”

The three-hour, once-a-week class takes place inside the Topeka Correctional Facility, the state institution for incarcerated women.

The women will be required to read the textbook, participate in discussions and will receive a grade in the class.

In addition to learning about the criminal justice system, students also experience self-exploration and self-discovery.

“I enrolled in the class because I had talked to students who took it previously that said it changed their life,” senior Stacy Yowell said. “I didn’t really believe them at first, but this class really does have the potential to if you let it. I learned a lot about myself and how I view others. Sharing the classroom with inmates really makes you see through labels and stereotypes and see the real person beneath it all.”

Interested students must go through an application and interview process. Fifteen Baker students and 15 incarcerated students will be selected to enroll.