#34: How to Reform The Criminal Justice System with Baz Dreisinger

Baz Dreisinger is the Founding Academic Director of John Jay's Prison-to-College Pipeline program. The program offers college courses and reentry planning to incarcerated men at Otisville Correctional Facility, and more broadly works to increase access to higher education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. Professor Dreisinger moonlights as a journalist and critic, writing about Caribbean culture, race-related issues, travel, music, and pop culture, for outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. She has also produced on-air segments about music and global culture for NPR.

Professor Dreisinger has authored two books focused on criminal justice reform; Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World, and Near Black: White-to-Black Passing in American Culture.

In this compelling conversation with IVY’s co-founder, Beri Meric, Baz illuminates the history of mass incarceration in the United States, and draws on her experience at the forefront of the movement towards restorative justice to reveal how we can fix a broken prison system and generate new opportunities for reform.

Please enjoy our conversation with Baz Dreisinger. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.