Catherine Besteman

This project analyzes the philosophical, literary, and political origins of the concept of refuge as well as the contemporary cultural and symbolic dimensions of the way refuge is imagined by displaced Somalis and the communities to which they go in order to advance a new understanding of refugee agency from the perspective of those who move. The study engages intellectual and theoretical questions about how the imaginings and materialities of refuge impact the construction of difference as well as novel forms of connection. It demonstrates how an insistent focus on human experience and agency at the center of the international refugee regime transforms our understanding of international humanitarianism as well as the construction of global subjectivities.

The Freedom & Captivity Curriculum Project will create curricula based on the materials generated through the Fall 2021 collaborative, statewide public humanities Freedom & Captivity initiative, which explored how to imagine an abolitionist future in Maine. The initiative included exhibitions, podcasts, film and photography projects, performances, presentations, workshops, and didactic materials, and was created with the participation of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. These materials are collected into an online archive, which will be the basis for creating curricula to be uploaded onto technology used inside Maine’s prisons. The curricula, structured around key humanities themes, is for college courses, discussion groups, and community classes taught by incarcerated people. The community partners for this project include Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, Maine Department of Corrections, Maine Prison Education Partnership, and Opportunity Scholars Network.

Freedom & Captivity will build a digital archive of carceral experience - the hidden stories of Maine’s incarcerated community members - and perform that archive at venues across the state. The curated archive will be housed at the Maine Memory Network, Maine Historical Society’s digital history platform, and all the material collected for the project will be archived in Colby College Library’s Digital Collections. This will be the first archival space in Maine to hold stories about incarceration, curated and sensitively contextualized by those most impacted by carcerality. By offering a platform for the voices of those previously silenced by carcerality, our project aims to shift the narrative around justice, accountability, and the need for incarceration in the wake of harm.