Inmates who endure years in solitary confinement are often written off by authorities, and lack programs for education and/or rehabilitation.

But one academic, over a decade ago, tried an audacious experiment of teaching Shakespeare to solitary confined prisoners.

On October 25, 2012, Uprising host Sonali Kolhatkar spoke with Dr. Laura Bates, an English Professor at Indiana State University who launched her Shakespeare in Shackles program – the first of its kind – in Indiana’s Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, and has expanded the highly successful program to other facilities. Her forthcoming book about the program is entitled “Shakespeare Saved My Life”: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard.

Watch a video of the interview here:

Bipasha Shom recorded this interview.