Laboratory:the Faces of Injustice

The University of Milan is committed to ensuring the right to university education for individuals in detention and, in general, to improving their living conditions through cultural initiatives and scientific promotion activities. This commitment is realized through a Convention with the Regional Penitentiary Administration (PRAP), first signed in December 2015 and renewed in 2018 and 2021.
Individuals residing in regional correctional institutions who wish to pursue a university education can:
· Enroll in one of the courses available at favourable economic conditions.
· Participate in workshops and educational modules within correctional facilities.
· Benefit from tutoring activities for study assistance.
· Access library services at the university with favourable loan conditions.
· Take exams and graduate within the prison facility if they are unable to obtain permission to leave.
Starting from 2016, as part of the activities outlined in the Convention with the PRAP, the University of Milan conducts workshops and educational modules of 20 hours (3 ECTS) each academic year within the correctional facilities of Opera and Bollate, as well as the San Vittore prison. These involve the joint participation of both external students and those in detention

These modules and workshops not only provide essential study opportunities for individuals in detention, who cannot attend university lectures externally, but also offer a chance for personal and cultural growth for all students. This interaction requires active engagement with a human and contextual reality significantly different from the ordinary.
The workshop "The Faces of Injustice" aims to impart knowledge and skills for understanding the concepts of justice and injustice, especially in the context of freedom deprivation. The workshop enables participants to:
· Understand the concept of freedom and autonomy in the medium to long-term detainee: its limitation, projection, and individual and collective imagination of it.
· Investigate the concept of freedom as a self-perceived image in public space and within a confinement context.
Thanks to the extraordinary contribution of students, the University of Milan has established a network of tutors dedicated to encouraging, facilitating, and supporting the initiation and continuation of university education for individuals confined in city and nearby penitentiary structures. Participation in the workshop is the first step towards becoming a tutor in the Unimi Prison Project.
At the conclusion of the workshop, it is hoped that there will be an improvement in understanding an institution that is often difficult to penetrate and insufficiently investigated, such as the prison, to identify the main issues that frequently hinder a positive outcome of educational intervention, whether in the form of a school or training program.