Accessing Virtual Egypt: museums in prisons

The prison population in England has almost doubled in the past ten years. The problem of overcrowding has been well reported in the press; however, comparatively less attention has been given to the problems faced by education departments in the light of coping with increased numbers of students. The proposed project was the idea of a group of prisoners serving long-term sentences, following a lecture by an Egyptologist and curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University Cambridge. This group is not able to visit museums and all are serving a minimum of a fifteen-year sentence and so are unlikely to be released in the immediate future. Many of this group were unable to read and write when they started serving their sentences and a number are now studying for higher education qualifications. These skills have prompted many, particularly those of African-Caribbean descent, to explore their own cultural heritage. However, the resources for achieving this aim are often uninspiring and a relatively poor in comparison to other subject areas. Further consultation with other prisoners (around 500 to date) has shown that there is a need for digital and written resources in prison libraries and that culture and history has a wide appeal during their time in prison and when they return to society. Exploration of one's history is a means of raising self-esteem and of promoting interests, such as culture and museums, which many British people take for granted. Nearly all of those consulted had not visited a museum since leaving school.

The proposed project aims to work closely with prisoners and prison education departments in order to transfer the specialist knowledge of the Sally-Ann Ashton, the project leader directly. The fellowship would allow Dr Ashton to spend one and a half years working with prisons in order to teach Egyptology both as a specialist subject and also as a means of inspiring learning through literacy skills, numeracy skills and art. This will be the first time that prisoners have actually been consulted and advised external educational resources in this way, and an important part of the use of Dr Ashton's time will be to build up confidences of those with whom she directly works. This will allow education staff to obtain first-hand knowledge of Egypt, a popular and accessible subject, and one that has direct relevance to Black and Muslim prisoners. For many of the prisoners, their ability to advise on issues that they themselves are familiar with, such as Black cultural heritage, to share their knowledge of Islam with both the project leader and others within the group.