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A collaborative installation, The Writing on the Wall: Hank Willis Thomas and Dr. Baz Dreisinger  presents essays, poems, letters, stories, diagrams, and notes written by individuals in prison around the world, from the United States and Australia to Brazil, Norway and Uganda. During her years teaching in US and international prisons, Professor Dreisinger actively collected the hand-written and typed pieces.

The Writing on the Wall calls attention to the prison crisis in the United States as well as the Western modern prison system, which has spread across the globe. Just as mass incarceration is a growing global phenomenon, The Writing on the Wall constantly evolves and shifts focus based on the material written by those living behind bars in prisons around the world.

This exhibition is a part of the For Freedoms initiative founded by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman. For Freedoms is a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the United States. Inspired by artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (1941)—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear— For Freedoms uses art to encourage and deepen public explorations of freedom in the 21st century.

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Statement of Free Expression

FIU endorses the Florida Board of Governors' Statement of Free Expression to support and encourage full and open discourse and the robust exchange of ideas and perspectives on our campuses. In addition to supporting this legal right, we view this as an integral part of our ability to deliver a high-quality academic experience for our students, engage in meaningful and productive research, and provide valuable public service. This includes fostering civil and open dialogue in support of critical thinking in and out of the classroom, including events hosted by the university.