What is Students as Producers

This chapter describes the ongoing work of the author, Professor Maria Cristina Zaccarini, of Adelphi University, and Network Support Services, a reentry organization based in New York. Students in Professor Zaccarini's class learn the koru method of mindfulness, and alumni of Network Support Services learn mindfulness while in prison and during their time of reentry as returning citizens. Students examine the works of mindful historical figures who are significant for the understanding of the links among economic, social, and other disadvantages and incarceration. Students interview network alumni and write 500-word essays with the aim of explaining the experiences of the alumni and then reflect on how these exercises shaped their understanding of mindfulness. Student work makes public the firsthand accounts of the network alumni, as it is published on the web.