Behind Bars Penal Heritage Symposium | A 2-Day Event

The 'Behind Bars' Penal Heritage Symposium will take place Thursday 21 - Friday 22 August 2025 at Shrewsbury Prison, UK.

This Symposium comes at a pivotal moment, as global discussions on the legacy and future of penal heritage converge with urgent and societal debates on justice, memory, and ethics.

The celebritisation of prison life in popular media and ongoing repurposing of decommissioned penal buildings highlights opportunities for innovation, as well as tensions between commercialisation and commemoration.

The Symposium will bring together interdisciplinary perspectives across academia, practice, and the public sphere in an effort to address how penal heritage is used and to further explore the broader implications of penal heritage for society and culture.

The Symposium will establish a global network for future knowledge exchange activities and agenda to ensure penal heritage plays a constructive role in shaping narratives about justice and reform for future generations.

Keynote Speakers Confirmed:

Dr Justin Piché, Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa and Researcher with the Carceral Cultures Research Initiative.
Bev Baker, Head of Collections and Research, National Justice Museum, Nottingham.

Event Programme:

Day 1 - Thursday, 21 August, 2025

(9.00am - 9:00pm)

• Welcome Remarks

• Keynote Speaker

• Parallel Panel Sessions

• Lunch (included)

• Parallel Panel Sessions

• Breakout Cells Workshop

• Dinner (included)

• Evening Prison Tour / Activity

Day 2 - Friday, 22 August, 2025

(9.00am - 6.00pm)

• Keynote Speaker

• Parallel Panel Sessions

• Lunch (included)

• Parallel Panel Sessions

• Symposium Closing Remarks

Panel speakers for this event include a range of experts across academia and industry who bring together expertise of penal heritage from the fields of heritage tourism, museum studies, criminology, sociology, geography, literature, and film studies.

Our speakers include, Beixi Sun (University of Liverpool); Beverley Cook (London Museum); Cédric Le Bossé and Fabienne Huard-Hardy (The French Correctional Administration Academy); Laura Nys and Margo De Koster (University of Ghent); Njideka Angela Obi (University of Westminster); Deirdre O'Neill (University of Hertfordshire); Jess Marlton (Bodmin Jail Attraction); Stephanie Brown (University of Hull); Kesia Middlemore (Oxford Castle & Prison); Brent McKenzie (University of Guelph); Hannah Gilman (Arden University); Shannon DeBlasio (Mitie Care and Custody); Simon McFadden (Oxford Brookes University); Emily Middleton (University of Leeds); Cormac Behan (Maynooth University); Dominique Moran (University of Birmingham); Graham G Goodwin (Former Prison Officer & Heritage Guide).

Symposium themes:

• Penal heritage for the experience economy
• Public history and education programs for penal heritage learning
• Representing prison narratives and the prison experience
• Exhibiting public and capital punishment
• Repurposing decommissioned penal buildings
• Prisons on screen and as a cultural commodity
• Ethics and human rights when using penal heritage
• Penal reform - past, present and future

For further details, please visit https://www.shrewsburyprison.com/penal-heritage-symposium/

The 'Behind Bars' Penal Heritage Symposium is being funded by Oxford Brookes University. Tickets are free but limited. Please register early to secure your spot. The Symposium is being delivered as part of a knowledge exchange project between Dr Brianna Wyatt (Oxford Brookes University), Dr Rachael Ironside (Robert Gordon University), Dr Craig Wight (Edinburgh Napier University) and Joel Campbell (Cove Group Attractions: Shrewsbury Prison).