In Memory of Barbara Roswell
(Oct. 27, 1959 - Oct. 26, 2026)
We have very sad news. Barbara Roswell, who has been connected to Inside-Out since its early times, passed away on Monday, one day shy of her 67th birthday, after a six-year battle with brain cancer. The following describes several dimensions of Barbara’s life and work. She was totally dedicated to social justice issues in general, but specifically to how those issues impacted men and women behind prison walls. She was deeply passionate and driven to make change in the world and in the lives of others, as evidenced in what she did with her life and how she lived it.
I first met Barbara in 2004, when I published an article in the academic journal Reflections, that she founded and edited. In her pioneering role as editor, she brought together scholars in the somewhat nascent field of civic engagement, helping to build the community-based learning field as an academic enterprise, creating a forum for the exchange of ideas, and mentoring countless graduate students and young scholars interested in extending the traditional boundaries of the university. Barbara was not afraid to take risks in order to extend the conversation: the special issue to which I contributed included pieces by both professional and incarcerated writers, crossing traditional boundaries and dignifying the important intellectual work of people too often ignored and stigmatized.
Two years later, Barbara participated in one of the first cohorts of The Inside-Out Instructor Training Institutes. Barbara was an enthusiastic and thoughtful participant, who, like several others in that cohort, developed into the leadership team of the organization — Inside-Out’s Executive Committee. She served in this leadership capacity for the better part of two decades.
Barbara was on the faculty of Goucher College for 35 years, teaching writing and women’s studies. There, she founded the Goucher Prison Education Partnership, a degree program that provides incarcerated students with a BA degree program in Maryland Prisons.
In 2013, Barbara worked with a variety of faculty, staff, and students across the Inside-Out network to extend the reach of Inside-Out, by co-editing (with Simone Davis) Turning Teaching Inside Out: A Pedagogy of Transformation for Community-Based Education. Barbara was also instrumental in facilitating the opportunity for Inside-Out to receive an annual grant from one of the foundations associated with her family. They have been very generous over the years, and have been a consistent source of support for the program over more than a decade.
Barbara demonstrated equally impressive commitments to a range of organizations and initiatives devoted to inclusion, bridging divides, and fostering people’s capacity to engage in difficult dialogues. She was a trained mediator and served on the advisory boards of Ask Big Questions and Resetting the Table. While teaching at Goucher and publishing regularly, she also sustained three years-long writing workshops at the women’s prison in Maryland, at the Baltimore County Detention Center, and at North Oaks Retirement Community.
Barbara is appreciated as a creative, generous, and deeply insightful member of the Inside-Out network and as a “connector,” who creates welcome spaces for newcomers and new conversations. In the 20+ years that I knew her, she effectively integrated many new modalities into her repertoire, enriching her work with diverse communities. She always challenged herself and expanded her comfort zone, inspiring others to do the same. Barbara leaves a powerful legacy in what she accomplished but, more importantly, in the spirit and heart that she brought to everything that she did.
May her memory be a blessing.
– Lori Pompa, Founder and Executive Director of Inside-Out
Barbara Roswell
