SDSU VISTA: Valuing Incarcerated Scholars through Academia
SDSU’s new BA program aims to empower students who are incarcerated.
In August 2023, a transformative journey commenced within the confines of Centinela State Prison in California. San Diego State University embarked on a mission to empower incarcerated individuals through the launch of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.
At the heart of this program are SDSU’s Director of the Institute for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Justice, Annie Buckley, and VISTA (Valuing Incarcerated Scholars Through Academia) Coordinator Azucena Wood Hardesty. Their plan represents a profound shift towards valuing the potential and aspirations of those within the correctional system, offering them a pathway to personal and academic growth.
“This program has been about three years in the making here at SDSU and is part of a larger statewide and national effort in recent decades to bring higher education to students experiencing incarceration,” said Buckley.”
This groundbreaking program embodies the belief that education is a powerful catalyst for change. Comprising three creative disciplines, Communication, Journalism and Media Studies, and Art and Design, the VISTA program is designed to equip students with the tools they need to communicate and analyze the world around them as they work towards a shared goal.
“We chose this area both for the skills and knowledge students would gain,” says Buckley. ”The careers that would be open to them would most likely be ones that would include fewer barriers to entry for people who are formerly incarcerated than some fields.”
What sets this program apart is its focus on experiential learning. The curriculum encourages hands-on exploration and collaboration, culminating in a capstone project where students apply their newfound skills to create publications, radio programs, or other projects.
Eligibility for the program hinges on students' completion of associate degrees and meeting academic transfer requirements, such as the Golden Four and CSU General Education-Breadth requirements.
“Students at Centinela have to complete an ADT (Associate Degree for Transfer) to be able to transfer into the program,” Azucena says, “The transfer requirements are equal to what transfer students on campus have to provide.”
The applicability of this education extends across industries, from traditional media to emerging fields; like digital strategy and online content management.
“SDSU VISTA is directly aligned with the vision and mission of the Institute for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Justice to expand access to the arts and humanities, to bridge gaps in knowledge and understandings, and to create connections with the main and Imperial Valley campuses,” Buckley insures.
SDSU’s BA program for those incarcerated is a testament to the transformative power of education, breaking down barriers one degree at a time.
For more information on this, contact VISTA (Valuing Incarcerated Scholars Through Academia) Coordinator Azucena Wood Hardesty at [email protected]
