“Beyond Closure” Screening with Filmmaker Q&A

All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend a film screening of “Beyond Closure” (54 mins), followed by Q&A with Urban Designer and Executive Producer Paola Aguirre Serrano (30 mins).

Film synopsis: What happened since Chicago closed 50 public schools in 2013? This documentary retraces the history of the largest mass school closures in the U.S. history highlighting the intertwined issues of inequity, racism, and injustice. Three closed schools showcase a new pathway – the one of community self-determination. Through the voices of community members leading the repurposing of Emmet, Woods, and Overton schools, this film reflects on community impact, their setbacks and wins towards redevelopment.

Paola Aguirre Serrano is a native of the US-Mexico border, urban designer, educator, and partner at Borderless Studio, an architecture and urban design practice with presence in Chicago and San Antonio invested in spatial justice and equitable design through collaborative approaches. Paola leads Creative Grounds, an initiative focused on Chicago’s closed public schools.

Co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Race Matters, Film and Media Studies, and the Leraas Fund.