Humanities Faculty Colloquium to Explore Narratives on Women Inmates

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The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences continues its Humanities Faculty Colloquium Series with Lauren DeCarvalho, assistant professor of communication. Her presentation, "Adaptations from the Pen: On-Screen and Off-Screen Narratives of Women Inmates," is free and open to faculty, staff, and graduate students and will take place from 4-5 p.m. on Friday, March 10, in 319 Old Main.

Professor DeCarvalho's research was sparked by portrayals of incarcerated women in media and entertainment. One such example is Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, a highly popular series that specifically portrays female inmates. DeCarvalho examines the intersections of gender, race, (dis)ability, and other identity markers in the series itself, as well as in Netflix's marketing campaigns. Last year, she began to think about how the experiences of real-life inmates might compare to the stories presented on-screen. De Carvalho earned a Community Research Award from the Community and Family Institute at the University of Arkansas to undertake research among local prison populations.

The Prison Story Project is a non-profit organization that adapts the narratives of real-life incarcerated women into staged readings. For four months, DeCarvalho accompanied the Prison Story Project team into the Northwest Arkansas Community Correction Center as a participant observer. During this time, they held workshops and taught eleven women inside how to tell their own stories through various creative outlets, such as poetry, literature, music, and art. Her talk will focus on some of the things that she observed as they relate to portrayals of incarcerated women on-screen.