Tristan Wilson and Libby Wickenheiser pour neon-colored paint onto canvases as part of the “Pouring for Purpose” experiential learning project in the Ethics in Criminal Justice course. Photo by Angela Foster.
Students in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Ethics in Criminal Justice course are learning about ethical decision-making the way their instructor prefers—by putting it into practice.
Instead of discussing policing, courts or corrections dilemmas solely in writing, the students turned those scenarios into pour-painted canvases. Their work was then displayed publicly to raise money for a local service organization.
On Thursday, Nov. 13, the fourth annual “Pouring for Purpose” gallery event—showcasing paintings created by students in Department of Criminal Justice Assistant Professor Katelyn Hancock’s course—was held in the University Center Chickamauga Room. Donations were accepted in exchange for taking a painting, with proceeds benefiting the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults’ HOPE Initiative program.
The paintings were created as part of a classroom exercise on Oct. 28.
According to Hancock, the course project enables students to apply ethical reasoning to real-world decision-making and understand the impact of their choices beyond the classroom.
“I really love experiential learning, and I think being able to do something that students think is unique and that they’re going to remember for a long time—and be able to apply material in different ways that are hands-on—is really great,” she explained. “I also really love service learning and trying to integrate back in with our service communities and service providers.
“Being able to connect it to raising funds for service organizations that I care about and that our community cares about is really beneficial.”
Pour painting, Hancock explained, is an art method in which acrylic paint is thinned and poured onto a canvas rather than brushed on. The canvas is tilted so the colors flow and mix, creating unique designs based on choices made before the pour.
Lana Crawley and Lana Fennell smile as they reveal a finished pour-painted canvas.
The Ethics in Criminal Justice assignment asked students to take a hypothetical ethical dilemma from policing, courts or corrections; map multiple possible responses; connect those responses to ethical systems studied in class; and then assign colors to represent each response before pouring the paint.
UTC seniors Lana Crawley and Lana Fennell collaborated on a scenario involving defense attorneys representing a gang member who continued to direct crimes from jail.
“We came up with all these solutions to the ethical dilemmas of going to the police for help or actually helping the gang leader or refusing to help them and letting their family get hurt or just not really doing anything,” said Crawley, who hails from Chattanooga. “We chose two solutions and then we also connected them to the ethical systems that we’ve been learning about since the beginning of the semester.”
The pair selected what Crawley termed “a monochromatic kind of thing” with pink, dark pink, blue and dark blue.
“It kind of turned out like cotton candy,” Crawley said. “Pretty cool.”
“I had done it before and it was really fun,” said Fennell, a native of Nashville. “They each turned out so different, even though we started pouring them the same way. But they’re really cool, unique. It was a lot of fun.”
Seniors Libby Wickenheiser of Nashville and Tristan Wilson of Chattanooga worked as a team and based their dilemma on a movie.
“We went off a popular movie that came out this year called ‘Weapons,’” Wilson explained. “There’s a cop in that movie who kind of makes an ethically wrong decision when handling a suspect and basically assaults him for lying.”
Wickenheiser admitted she did not love their color choice at first—“It was like a slime green,” she said—but changed her mind after seeing the finished canvases.
“We both used the same colors, but they turned out really different looking,” Wickenheiser said. “I actually really liked it and I don’t like painting at all. It was very therapeutic to see the paint.
“I’m excited that we get to raise money. I think that’s the coolest part about it.”
All four criminal justice majors are preparing for careers in the field of criminal justice. Wickenheiser said she plans to attend law school after graduation. Wilson said he hopes to work for the FBI or TBI. Crawley said she wants to work in the crime analyst unit at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. Fennell said she plans to work for Hamilton County Probation.
Hancock said seeing her students so invested in both ethics and community impact reflects the values they will carry into their careers.
“I think it speaks to a lot of their values and their morals and the way that they want to help people and interact with the community in various ways,” she said.
Michelle Howard, program manager for the Partnership’s HOPE Initiative, said the students’ support directly affects the kids and families her team serves.
“It’s a great opportunity for us,” Howard said. “It’s really important to me personally because I have so much passion and love for the kids that we’re serving in the community as a whole.”
Howard said the Pouring for Purpose donations help cover activities, programming and unmet needs for families. She also discussed the broader impact of students engaging with trauma-informed work.
“There’s a huge ripple effect with every person who has an ‘A-HA’ moment, when they see our curriculum, when they think about their own experiences or someone close to them who has experienced trauma and the importance of those positive childhood experiences,” she said. “UTC has a huge part in supporting those positive childhood experiences throughout all different departments, and that’s really important for the resilience of Chattanooga as a whole.”
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UTC criminal justice duo helping to bring hope to Chattanooga youth
Pouring for Purpose photo gallery by Angela Foster
