EVE L. EWING PRESENTS GHOSTS IN THE SCHOOLYARD

In this SCOPE book talk, education sociologist Eve L. Ewing presents her latest book, Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side. Dr. Ewing will talk about the story of Chicago's 2013 mass public school closures-- the largest wave of such closures in the nation's history. The event will include a reading of excerpts from the books, behind-the-scenes context and the deeper story of the research project, and a discussion of the lessons the book presents about history, segregation, racism, and the future of America's public schools, followed by a question and answer session and book signing.

In the words of Ta-Nehisi Coates:

“If only for widening the scope of the debate over public schools, Eve Ewing’s new book is a welcome entry to the conversation.  Rejecting the impulse to see educators as disconnected from American life and politics, Ghosts in the School Yard links the struggles of Chicago public schooling with the city’s notoriously racists housing practices.  Ewing peels back the seemingly anodyne messaging of reform (“school choice”) and its ostensibly object standards (“test scores”) to reveal the insidious assumptions lying beneath."

"Perhaps most importantly, Ewing gives direct voice to those served by those schools often dismissed as failing.  What she finds is that these schools are often among the last working institutions in neighborhoods which have been systematically stripped of everything else.  Mixing history, sociology, and even memoir, Ghosts in the Schoolyards is an important addition to any conversation about the future of public schools and those they were designed to serve.”

Quotes from Other Reviews of Ghosts in the Schoolyard:

"Ewing is a truly rare cultural phenomenon."

Chicago Tribune

"A chilling must-read investigation of racism in Chicago's education system."

Foreward Review

Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a sociologist of education and a writer from Chicago. She is the author of Electric Arches, which received awards from the American Library Association and the Poetry Society of America and was named one of the year's best books by NPR and the Chicago Tribune. She is also author of Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side and the co-author (with Nate Marshall) of the play No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. She also writes the Ironheart series for Marvel Comics. Ewing is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other venues.