EJP Blended Course Student Application

Blended courses bring together students from the UIUC main campus and UIUC students at Danville Correctional Center (DCC). The class will regularly be taught in-person on both campuses with a Zoom connection, with three in-person meetings where the main campus students will travel to DCC for class.

During Fall 2026, the blended course will be CW 463, a special topics class in creative writing taught in the workshop format.

Class will meet from 1:30-4:30 on Wednesday afternoons. We anticipate that the three in-person classes will be held on 9/2, 10/7, and 12/2, during which time class would meet from 12:00-6:00 to accommodate travel to Danville Correctional Center.

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE by 5:00 PM Friday, March 27, 2026.

Please note that we will hold information sessions for interested students over Zoom on Tuesday 2/3/26 from 5:00-6:00 and Monday 3/9/26 from 5:00-6:00. You can RSVP here.

Additional information:

• Students must be 18 years or older at the time of the class.


• There will be 15 students total in the class, about half of them will be incarcerated at Danville and half will be from the U-C campus. Danville is a medium-security men’s state prison.


• The class will meet once a week for 3 hours over zoom, with in-person meetings 3 times throughout the semester (beginning, middle, end)


• Transportation will be provided to and from the prison.


• There will be required orientation sessions in May 2025.


• We regret that students with a criminal record will be unlikely to pass the required background check. Also, students who regularly visit Illinois state prisons will be unlikely to pass the background check.

What are we looking for?

• Serious students who are looking for exceptional learning opportunities


• Emotional maturity and openness


• Ability to follow rules


• Interest in the U.S. prison system and conditions of incarceration


• General alignment with EJP’s social justice orientation to higher education in prison