Workshops
Ronald Hulnick is the founder of USM’s Freedom to Choose Prison Project, a service project conducted by USM graduates at Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, California. The USM Prison Project is the original Freedom to Choose workshop and is supported by USM faculty and a group of volunteers. The name of the workshop, “Freedom to Choose,” is derived from the work of Viktor Frankl, who was a psychologist interred in a concentration camp during World War II. Founded in 2004 by Ron Hulnick, it is co-facilitated by Drs. David and Bonnie Paul. In 2005, the USM Prison Project was nominated for a national award recognizing excellence in prison reform programs.
This service project inspired the documentary film Freedom to Choose. The USM documentary highlights the story of the Freedom to Choose Workshop that was provided to over 160 inmates at Valley State Prison for Women in March 2007. Forty-six volunteer graduates from USM’s M.A. Program in Spiritual Psychology traveled to this maximum-security women’s prison. The Freedom to Choose documentary won the 2009 Emerging Filmmaker Showcase in the Documentary Category at the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival.
Awards and Acknowledgments for the film Freedom to Choose:
- Winner - Documentary category, American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes 2009, May 16, 2009 Cannes Film Festival
- 2009 Honolulu International Film Awards, Aloha Accolade Award for Excellence in Filmmaking, March 13–15, 2009
- 2009 White Sands Film Festival, Las Cruces, New Mexico, April 23–26, 2009
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