The Sophia Project
A Proposal for a Learning Workshop and Meditation Community for Incarcerated Individuals.
February 2021
A Hybrid Mindfulness and Lifelong Learning Community
This project is designed to offer incarcerated individuals high-quality learning experiences, habits and tools. The project utilizes a hybrid approach to education, incorporating both classical liberal arts disciplines focused on literacy and intellectual development, with mindfulness and creative expression training focussed on emotional and mental wellness. This workshop is process-oriented, focused on learning as a lifelong pursuit for its own sake, versus goal-oriented, focused specifically on the earning of a high school or college degree, although it could easily be incorporated into a degree program.
Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence
The mindfulness training aspect of this project is based on the Prison Mindfulness Institute’s “Path of Freedom” framework, developed by Fleet Maull. Also known as “Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence” training, this powerful framework is rooted in decades of scientific research and widespread testing with incarcerated individuals. The curriculum is based on Fleet Maull’s new book Radical Responsibility: How to Move Beyond Blame, Fearlessly Live Your Highest Purpose, and Become an Unstoppable Force for Good (Boulder: Sounds True, 2019). This ground-breaking synthesis of mindfulness practices, transactional and trauma psychotherapy, ancient wisdom, as well as invaluable resource of the Prison Mindfulness Institute as a networking clearing house for support, grew out of Fleet Maull’s 15 years of experience as an incarcerated person, followed by a life-long quest to design, test and implement the ideal curriculum to optimize the healing opportunities for our incarcerated sisters and brothers.
Facilitator and Project Designer
Justin Good, Sanctuary Co-Executive Director. Justin is also currently teaching philosophy and meditation at Central Connecticut State University and Middlesex Community College. He has worked at York before in the capacity of Lecturer of Philosophy for Wesleyan Center for Prison Education.
Sponsor
This project will be funded through a grant from the Virgie Giles Foundation. The State of Connecticut will not be responsible for any costs related to facilitation or teaching materials such as texts and workbooks.