Incarcerated VISTA Students Showcase Research at 2026 SDSU Student Symposium

The 2026 SDSU Student Symposium marked the second year of participation by incarcerated students enrolled in the SDSU-VISTA Bachelor of Arts program at Centinela State Prison.

Sixteen SDSU-VISTA students submitted research and creative projects, and 15 recorded audio pitches so symposium attendees could hear them present their work. 

Twenty-six main campus Criminal Justice students in CJ 431 served as peer reviewers, completing 113 evaluations. These main campus students will later visit Centinela classrooms to engage directly with the student researchers.

Two VISTA students earned the highest overall scores, with one top project recognized on each yard where the program operates.

The incarcerated students were mentored by Criminal Justice faculty members Tereza Trejbalová and Kimberly Kras, with support from VISTA research assistants Emma Bailey and Malia Kohls. The initiative was supported by SDSU’s Division of Research and Innovation, with special thanks to Charles Pickering.

On campus, creative work also took center stage. Rigoberto Ganceda, a current Journalism student and recent VISTA alumnus, wrote the play Gate Money: Dramatizing the Complexities of Reentry, for which he received a Dean's Award. 

The production also featured a performance by fellow VISTA alumnus and SDSU Journalism student Rubén Alarcón. The project was guided and mentored by Mabelle Reynoso, lecturer in the School of Theatre, Television, and Film. Through theatre, the students explored the challenges individuals face during reentry.

Participation in the symposium was supported by the Prison Arts Collective and the Institute for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Justice. Together, they co-hosted an SDSU Student Symposium creative research workshop in partnership with the European Forum for Restorative Justice’s global initiative, Restorative Justice Week. The workshop helped students prepare their research and creative projects for presentation.

Together, the research presentations and creative performances underscored the transformative power of education, collaboration, and the arts to expand opportunity and amplify student voices across communities.