Mar 14 2025

‘Beyond Closure’: A Screening and Panel Discussion

Co-sponsored by the UIC Department of Urban Planning and Policy and the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy

March 14, 2025

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

An aerial shot of Woods Academy in the Chicago neighborhood of Englewood. The Chicago skyline is in the distance.
Photo: Dave Schalliol. Courtesy of Borderless Studio.
Woods Academy (Englewood).

Location

UIC Daley Library, Room 1-470

Address

801 S. Morgan Street, Chicago, IL

Cost

Free

Calendar

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In 2013, the City of Chicago forced the rapid closure of 50 public schools – the largest mass school closure in U.S. history. Beyond Closure (2024) is a documentary by On The Real Film and Borderless Studio that retraces the history of the closures, highlighting the intertwined issues of inequity, racism, and injustice. Taking a deeper look at three schools (in the Chicago communities of Austin, Bronzeville, and Englewood), the film showcases community struggles to forge a new pathway of self-determination. Through the voices of community members leading the repurposing of Emmet, Woods, and Overton schools, this film reflects on the community impact of school closures, and the setbacks and wins of activists struggling to reclaim schools as public spaces.

Join the UIC Department of Urban Planning and Policy and the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy for a screening of Beyond Closure. After the film, a panel discussion will bring together the filmmaking team (Erin Babbin and Michael Sullivan from On the Real Film, and Paola Aguirre Serrano from Borderless Studio) with UIC's own Elizabeth Todd-Breland (History).

Registration is required. Please use the RSVP link below to register for the event.

 

RSVP here

Contact

Phil Ashton
pashton@uic.edu

Date posted

Feb 10, 2025

Date updated

Feb 14, 2025

Speakers

Erin Babbin and Michael Sullivan | On the Real Film

On the Real Film is a Chicago based-production company founded in 2011 by Erin Babbin and Michael Sullivan that values storytelling and keeping it real, strives for honesty in filmmaking, and centers people underserved by mainstream media. Specializing in documenting the vibrant worlds of artists, musicians, arts organizations, nonprofits, and university programs, On The Real Film works to uplift Chicago voices and narratives. Their work in cinema extends globally, with productions in South and Central America, Europe and Africa, as well as screenings in international festivals from Paris to Mexico City, Mumbai, Hamburg, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Park City.

Paola Aguirre Serrano | Borderless Studio

Paola Aguirre Serrano is partner and urban designer with Borderless Studio, a design and research practice based in Chicago and San Antonio focused on approaches and collaboration frameworks addressing spatial justice and equitable design while cultivating collaborative design agency. With emphasis on interdisciplinary exchange, Borderless explores creative civic design and engagement interventions that address the complexity of urban systems and spatial equity by looking at intersections between architecture, urban design, infrastructure, landscape, planning, and community processes. Borderless’s work has been recently recognized by The Architecture League of New York with the Emerging Voices Award (2022), and the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation’s Creative Placemaking Award (2022).

Dr. Elizabeth Todd-Breland | Associate Professor of History | UIC

Professor Todd-Breland focuses on 20th-century United States urban and social history, African American history, and the history of education. Her work also explores interdisciplinary issues related to racial and economic inequality, urban public policy, neighborhood transformation, education policy, and civic engagement. Her book, A Political Education: Black Politics and Education Reform in Chicago since the 1960s (University of North Carolina Press, 2018), analyzes transformations in Black politics, shifts in modes of education organizing, and the racial politics of education reform from the 1960s to the present. Professor Todd-Breland’s writing has appeared in the Journal of African American History, Souls, and scholarly edited volumes. She has also contributed to popular outlets, including NPR, ESPN, the Washington Post, and local radio, television, print, and online media.