Inspire Media is a student group dedicated to creating, promoting and funding socially-conscious media and art projects of all types. Each year, the group awards several grants to students working on projects designed to build community and bring issues to light.
Projects are showcased at the Inspire Symposium, a day-long event to be held Saturday at McCormick Tribune Center. The annual event will not only showcase Open Media Grant recipients, but also feature two hands-on workshops and the premiere of Inspire's 2011-2012 film grant winner, Hospital Rwanda.
Co-president Liz Miller, a Communication senior, said Inspire Media decided to streamline its Symposium this year. "In the past, it's been kind of a multi-day event with all sorts of different things," she said. "But we decided we want to keep it to one day with everything together to have it more of a cohesive, unified event."
The showcase and dinner begin at 5 p.m. when the lobby of McCormick Tribune Center will be turned into a gallery where the Open Media Grants will premiere. These projects, all focused around improving and celebrating the community, are very diverse in subject and media.
Weinberg sophomore Adam Berman completed "The Loss of Light," a screenprinting project focused on raising awareness to the effects of light pollution. Some effects include the deaths of sea turtles, alteration of migratory pathways of birds and disruption of human sleep.
In addition to those effects, Berman looked into light pollution's psychological effects. "I am also making a print on the psychology of what happens when the human race no longer sees the stars on a regular basis and loses a sense of the beauty and magnitude of the cosmos," he said in an email.
"Marooned on the Subway" is a blog by Weinberg sophomore Mariam Gomaa featuring passengers on the El. This blog aims to introduce readers to various personalities of people who ride the El and bring to light social issues these people deal with every day. She said she hopes her blog gets people to realize what problems are out there rather than ignoring them.
"Every moment is a moment that has potential for change as long as we keep our eyes open," she said. "I’m trying to tell people that it’s okay to people watch if you’re thinking about how these people compose the fabric of our society and if that drives you to actively play a role in positively impacting our society."
There will be three mixed-media portraits and audio interviews by Medill senior Rachel Hoffman discussing surviving sexual abuse, the self-judgment and societal pressure that ensues. There will also be a display of photographs by SESP junior Li Gao of Mather Pavilion residents in Evanston who have dementia, focusing on maintaining positive attitudes in light of the disease.
Dead Jobs, a play by Danielle Littman and Robert Kelas about Internet technology making certain professions obsolete, is another winner of the Open Media Grant. The play took place in late April at Shanley Pavilion.
Medill junior Maryam Jameel will premiere a short documentary, portraits and audio snippets about women recently released from prison.
Inspire won't be just another showcase of student work, though: The Symposium will also provide two hands-on workshops, a keynote speech and movie premiere.
At 6 p.m., epidemiologist-turned-filmmaker Jonathan Smith will deliver the keynote speech about his film They Go to Die, a documentary about four mine workers in South Africa and Swaziland who contracted tuberculosis while working in gold mines and were sent home to die with no means of treatment.
Hospital Rwanda, winner of the $1,500 film grant, will premiere immediately following Smith's speech. Medill grad student Arthur Touchot and Medill junior Kevin Short filmed this documentary about Rwanda's healthcare system, where healthcare is provided but hospital food is not. The film looks into trying to change this disparity and the community created within the hospital.
The Inspire Symposium will feature community experiences ranging from within campus all the way to Africa, so those looking for a way to spend their Saturday afternoon will have the chance to connect with the greater Northwestern community no matter if they are a Cut or a Grind.
"There are so many amazing and talented people here at Northwestern, so it's nice to have the opportunity to showcase their work," Miller said. "This is an opportunity to bring together the entire Northwestern community to experience this very different event."