This course is designed to introduce students to the historical, political, and cultural dimensions of Prison Studies. Specifically, we will engage prison literature, the writing by currently or formerly incarcerated individuals, to examine the political debates and cultural representations of the carceral system. The course includes texts by political prisoners, detainees, and the criminally convicted. We will also engage how questions of race, gender, sexuality, class, and nationality shape the experiences of and writings about incarceration.