"Race to Nowhere," "Temple Grandin" highlight education film series at Fairfield University

Fairfield University's Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions (GSEAP) will host a free public film series beginning on Wednesday, February 20 with the first of three films about the American educational system and related topics. The series is sponsored by GSEAP, The Office of Graduate Student Life and the Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield.

The films will be shown in the multimedia room of the University's DiMenna-Nyselius Library with ample parking behind the Quick Center for the Arts. Fairfield welcomes the public to these free screenings. Light refreshments will be served and GSEAP faculty will facilitate discussions following each film.

The first film is "Race to Nowhere," which will be screened at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 20. Released in 2010, this thought-provoking film features the troubling stories of students across the country pushed to the brink by overscheduling, over-testing and the relentless pressure to achieve. Sheri Linden of the Los Angeles Times called "Race to Nowhere" "a dire warning and solid piece of advocacy journalism, complete with an action checklist at film's end."

Next up is the award-winning "Temple Grandin" (2010) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27. Claire Danes won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance as the title character, a woman who refuses to let autism limit her true potential. "The best biopic in a very, very long time," wrote A.O. Scott of At the Movies.

The final film in the series, "The Revisionaries," will be screened at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 25. This 2012 documentary showcases how public education has become the latest battleground in a new wave of cultural, religious and ideological clashes, with local Texas education board members advancing agendas of Creationism and other religious issues in public schools. "It's a symbolic fight of our times, making [the film] a compelling and involving work," wrote critic Cary Darling of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

For more information, contact Stephanie Burrell Storms, Ed.D., at (203) 254-4000, ext. 3334 or sstorms@fairfield.edu.

Media Contact: Meredith Guinness, (203) 254-4000, ext. 2950, mguinness@fairfield.edu

Posted on January 15, 2013

Vol. 45, No. 141

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