EVENT: Film Screenings, Discussion Promote the Inclusion of Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Higher Ed
A public screening of films promoting and cultivating inclusivity on college campuses will be presented as part of WXXI’s MOVE TO INCLUDE initiative on Monday, May 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Little Theatre (240 East Ave.). The free event will feature the experiences of college students with intellectual disabilities through the free showings of the national film Rethinking College and the new local micro-documentary film series The Opportunity Project, followed by a panel discussion.
Produced by Think College, Rethinking College is a 25-minute film about students with intellectual disabilities who are attending colleges and universities throughout the United States. Through the perspectives of parents, educators, advocates, and policymakers, the film illustrates how colleges and universities can provide a setting for all students to grow, learn, and build better futures.
The Opportunity Project, a new micro-documentary film series created by the Institute for Innovative Transition at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education and funded by the Golisano Foundation, features short films, each centering around a young person with a disability building a positive, self-determined, and satisfying adult life. In its mission to increase positive images of people with disabilities in the media, the Institute for Innovative Transition, through these video stories, aims to promote a sense of possibility, open doors, and precedent about these individuals as they transition into adulthood.
A panel discussion, moderated by Martha Mock, an associate professor who directs the Institute for Innovative Transition at the Warner School, will follow the showings, providing insight into how access to higher education impacts students with intellectual disabilities and leads to meaningful employment. Panelists will include: subjects of The Opportunity Project films Cori Piels, a Monroe Community College alumna, and Robert Lonie, a Keuka College alumnus; Meg Grigal, co-director of Think College; David Basinger, chief academic officer at Roberts Wesleyan College.
Founded in 1958, the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education (www.warner.rochester.edu) offers master’s and doctoral degree programs in teaching and curriculum, school leadership, higher education, educational policy, counseling, human development, and health professions education. The Warner School of Education offers an accelerated option for its EdD programs that allows eligible students to earn a doctorate in education in as few as three years part time while holding a professional job in the same field. The Warner School of Education is recognized both regionally and nationally for its tradition of preparing practitioners and researchers to become leaders and agents of change in schools, universities, and community agencies; generating and disseminating research; and actively participating in education reform.
