This one-day conference explores one of the most important political, economic, and legal problems in contemporary American society: mass incarceration. Assembled under the broadly defined theme of “Mobility and Confinement,” the conference addresses a wide range of topics of central importance to the issue of incarceration, such as economic mobility and poverty; the detention of migrants and refugees; the regulation of drug trafficking and the war on drugs; and the war on terror.

Presenters at this conference come from various academic disciplines, including History, Sociology, and Law, under the shared goal of provoking an interdisciplinary discussion of the complex issues of incarceration, criminal justice, and human rights.