Education behind bars with Rhea Ballard-Thrower: How can learning transform the lives of incarcerated individuals?
Introduction
Play podcast in new window | Duration: 23:20 | Recorded on September 18, 2025
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“This is UIC” is the official podcast for the University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago’s only public research university. With each biweekly episode, “This is UIC” showcases how UIC leaders and innovators are inspiring change and shaping conversations on topics that matter, in Chicago and beyond.
In this episode, Grace Khachaturian sits down with Rhea Ballard-Thrower, professor of law and dean of libraries at the University of Illinois Chicago, to share about her work teaching incarcerated individuals — a mission rooted in her belief in education as a catalyst for transformation. She offers insights from the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, which brings together incarcerated individuals and university students in a shared classroom. Ballard-Thrower reflects on the program’s role in reducing recidivism and the lasting ripple effect of equipping individuals with skills to impact others. Through powerful stories of transformation, she illustrates how education can foster purpose and change behind and beyond prison walls.
Key takeaways
- Ballard-Thrower’s faith and belief in second chances inspired her work with the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program.
- The Inside-Out program creates a powerful space for mutual learning and growth.
- Education can create a ripple effect of positive change.
- Education can be a powerful tool in reducing recidivism and restoring hope.
Biography
Rhea Ballard-Thrower is dean and university librarian at the University of Illinois Chicago, where she leads strategic direction for the UIC Library. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati, a law degree from the University of Kentucky, and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Michigan. Previously, she served as executive director of Howard University Libraries and director of the Howard University School of Law Library, where she taught Advanced Legal Research using the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program pedagogy — a course she now teaches at UIC Law as Students in Jail. Her earlier roles include positions at Georgia State University and the University of Texas at Austin. An active scholar and presenter, Ballard-Thrower’s current research focuses on teaching legal research to incarcerated students as a tool for social justice. She serves on the executive boards of the Association of Research Libraries and the Chicago Collections Consortium.