Towson University: Mitten Professor Aseltine Examines Intersection Of Criminal Justice, Higher Education

Press release from Towson University:

Rebecca Kirkman

August 18, 2021

Three-year position in the College of Liberal Arts supports faculty research, engaged
teaching

The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) has awarded its next Martha A. Mitten Professorship to Elyshia Aseltine, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice.

The Mitten professorship emphasizes effective teaching, productive scholarship and
impactful contributions to student experiences. Faculty members who hold the three-year
position receive support from the college as they pursue a long-term project.

Aseltine plans to deepen her existing scholarship surrounding criminal justice reform
and racial equity, involving TU faculty, students and the wider community in the process.

Since joining TU in 2012, Aseltine has increased opportunities for TU students and
faculty to be involved in the civic life of the Baltimore region through initiatives
like the Inside Out Prison Exchange Program, which brings incarcerated students and
college students together for a term-long course held inside a correctional institution,
and the Fair Chance Higher Education initiative, which focuses on building campus
infrastructure to support justice-impacted students.

Her work has grown with the support of emerging and priority investments through BTU—Partnerships for Greater Baltimore and a $60,000 fellowship from the Open Society Institute—Baltimore in 2019.

The Martha A. Mitten professor is selected through a process that includes nomination
by colleagues, application by interested candidates, committee review and recommendation
by the dean to the provost.

“This year’s list of nominees was very competitive, which is a testament to the high
quality of work being done in the college to the benefit of our students and the communities
we work and research in in a wide range of disciplines,” says CLA Dean Chris Chulos.

In her first year of the professorship, which begins this fall, Aseltine will develop
plans for a study-away program focused on race and punishment in the U.S., with visits
to the first national memorial for lynching victims; the National Memorial for Peace
and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama; and the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

“Each of these sites offer important insights into the historical—and contemporary—relationship
between race and punishment in the U.S.,” Aseltine says. “Having led study-away courses
in the past, I can attest to the significant impact that these experiences have on
the students who participate. They absorb course material with heightened interest
and urgency, their worldviews become expanded and more nuanced, and they imagine new
possibilities for their academic and career trajectories.”

She will also develop and lead an Inside Out experience for TU faculty members, with
several opportunities for them to be involved in shortened versions of the traditional
student experience in spring 2022.

In the second year, Aseltine will coordinate a series of courses examining incarceration
and prisons through unique disciplines from sociology to the arts, culminating in
a campus-wide event allowing participants to share what they learned with the community.
In the final year, she hopes to host an on-campus, regional conference on prisons
and the intersections with higher educational institutions. In addition to producing
an edited journal of research, Aseltine hopes the conference builds lasting connections.

“My hope is that facilitating connections between faculty and community members will
result in new opportunities for collaborative research and innovative courses and
lay the foundation for a regional coalition focused on issues surrounding higher education
and incarceration,” she says.

Funded by a bequest from Martha A. Mitten ’33 to benefit teaching and learning at
Towson University, the professorship supports a faculty member who best exemplifies
CLA’s goals of excellence in teaching, productive scholarship and positive service.

A Baltimore City native, Mitten (then Martha Alford) was one of the first recipients
of the Maryland State Normal School’s three-year diploma and an engaged student, serving
as senior social chairman in her final year. Following graduation, she pursued a teaching
career in Baltimore City.

When the long-time educator and friend to TU died in May 2006, the university learned
of her generous estate gift, a portion of which established the Martha A. Mitten Professorship,
the first endowed professorship for CLA.

Previous Mitten professors include English professor Jennifer Ballengee, anthropology
professor Matthew Durington and psychology professor Bethany Brand. Mitten’s prior gifts to TU include one in 2002 to establish the Martha A. Mitten Memorial Scholarship Endowment for CLA students.

This press release was produced by Towson University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.