New Jersey Council for the Humanities Awards 2024 Stanley N. Katz Prize for Excellence in Public Humanities to Ritual4Return

(November 12, 2024)

New Jersey Stage

The New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH) recently announced the recipient of the 2024 Stanley N. Katz Prize for Excellence in Public Humanities, as well an honorable mention. Ritual4Return was awarded the top prize in recognition of its program offering an intensive 12-week healing workshop incorporating storytelling, theater, literature, and rites of passage for citizens returning from incarceration.

The Newark-based program focuses on helping returning citizens shape and share their stories to dispel negative stereotypes about people who have been incarcerated and release the feelings of shame and stigma often resulting from trauma experienced before, during, and after incarceration.