The University of Oklahoma Carceral Studies Consortium is pleased to announce the 2022 Student Work Prize recipients. The prize recognizes excellence in scholarly or creative work from any discipline which engages carceral studies, broadly construed, during the 2021-2022 academic year. Congratulations, all!
“Reconstructing Incarceration”
Paper/Project Abstract: This fifth-year architecture studio class, offered in Fall 2021, was exceptionally different from past studios. Our tasks included a presentation to the Department of State in Washington, D.C., along with the development of an exhibition to exemplify the group’s work throughout the semester. We worked on the conceptual redesign of the Oklahoma County Jail, to be used as a flagship location to reimagine the incarceration system as a whole.
Tour the online exhibition by clicking the link below.
“COVID-19 and the Penal System: Effects of Race on Federal Sentencing Departures During the Pandemic”
Paper/Project Abstract: The United States Sentencing Commission publishes yearly reports of all federal rime sentences. This paper examines the differences in the likelihood of receiving a COVID-19 related sentence variance.
“COVID-19 and the Penal System: Effects of Race on Federal Sentencing Departures During the Pandemic”
Paper/Project Abstract: This paper is the written version of a speech delivered in an English class as part of a final assignment. The speech focuses on reasons to care about the failures of the United States Penal System. It details the arguments for and against prison reform and possible reforms that could be made in the near future to better the rehabilitative ability of prisons in the United States. The final part of this speech asks the listener/reader to speak with their local lawmakers about this issue and become part of a change.
The Carceral Studies Consortium is hosted by the Gibbs College of Architecture.
Gibbs College is pleased to present the exhibition Vollendorf in Oklahoma: The Architecture of Dean Bryant Vollendorf during the Spring 2025 semester. It will be on display in Gould Hall, on the OU-Norman Campus, from February 16, 2026 - March 13, 2026.
On November 21, 2025, the Mainsite Contemporary Art gallery was transformed into a showcase of innovation and craftsmanship for the University of Oklahoma’s furniture design build studio exhibition, “Purpose in Form.”
Associate Professors Lee Fithian, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Pober have published a chapter in the recently released New Perspectives in Indoor Air Quality, published by Elsevier. Their contribution, titled “Chapter 16 – Architecture and the Challenges of Indoor Air Quality,” examines the relationship between architecture and indoor air quality.
