What Happens When Incarcerated and Free Students Learn Together? | POV Shorts

Nov 10, 2026

CLASSROOM 4 is the story of an award-winning History professor from Lewis & Clark College leading a group of students, half incarcerated and half free, in a class titled THE HISTORY OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. Through exploring concepts including masculinity, prison abolition, and mercy, the work challenges the invisibility of incarcerated people, reveals the consequences of mass imprisonment for everyone, and emphasizes the importance of these programs to bring together the incarcerated and free to meet and know one another.

Classroom 4 | POV Shorts
Director(s): Eden Wurmfeld
Producer(s): Eden Wurmfeld, Yael Bridge

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POV (‪‪‪‪‪@povborders‬)
POV (a cinema term for “point of view”) is television’s longest-running showcase for independent nonfiction films. POV premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 500 films to public television audiences across the country. POV films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, putting a human face on contemporary social issues.