HumanDocs returns Wednesday night to begin their spring slate with the PBS Point-of-View film Homegoings.
The screening will take place in 8:30 p.m. in Ward Hall.
As Black History Month is just around the corner, Homegoings focuses on Isaiah Owens, a funeral director in Harlem, and his experiences through his work in the community.
Ted Parks, a Spanish professor and curator of the HumanDocs program, speaks on behalf of the challenging questions that will be covered on Wednesday night.
“How do we integrate the end of life into life itself in a culture that prefers not to talk about death?” Parks said would be something to consider. “Can a person’s passing really be a time of celebration as well as mourning?”
Following the film, there will be a panel for a brief discussion including people such as Joy Samuels, Jackie Conwell, Greg Rumburg and Donnetta Hawkins.
“Our panel includes social workers and psychologists who have not only worked professionally with grieving people, but have experienced loss themselves,” Parks said. “I think Wednesday night will not only be a chance to see an engaging documentary, but to think about who we are, the hope we have and the preciousness of life.”
HumanDocs will host another film in February, tentatively selecting Inequality for All, a close look at the growing income gap in the United States. It is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 8:30 p.m., in Shamblin Theatre.
Both screening are free and open to the public.
Photo courtesy of lipscomb.edu