Pittsburgh, PA – The Carnegie Mellon Database Group (CMU-DB) announced a new initiative to provide database systems education to incarcerated individuals across the United States (including all territories) completely free of charge.

Through this program, any prisoner with an interest in learning about the design and implementation of database management systems can receive materials for CMU-DB’s award-winning Database Systems (15-445/645) course via postal mail. The package includes printed lecture notes, course slides, homework assignments, and a paper-based version of the programming projects. The researchers have adapted the materials for environments without internet or reliable computer access.

The group draws inspiration from the Wu-Tang Clan’s reflection on confinement: Even when the doors are closed, the mind can still roam free. The CMU-DB Group hopes this program will help participants use their time productively, develop technical skills, and prepare for future opportunities in technology.

“No one’s mind should be locked up from thinking about databases, even if their body is,” said Andy Pavlo, Associate Professor of Databaseology in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon.

CMU-DB’s other leading professor and Computer Science Department Head (Interim), Jignesh Patel, commented that “Knowledge is a form of freedom, and our database education can give people skills they can carry with them after release.”

If you or someone you know is currently incarcerated and would like to enroll, send an email to db-prison@cs.cmu.edu with the prisoner’s full mailing address. Course materials will be sent directly to their facility at no cost. We are unfortunately not able to provide these course materials to non-prisoner addresses or to prisoners outside of the United States.

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Acknowledgements

This initiative is made possible through the generous sponsorship of Convex, whose support enables the printing, packaging, and postage for all course materials.