Mayra Patricia Aguilar

I am primarily interested in the intersections of immigration, filmmaking and technology, and I was able to academically explore them in the Human Rights Practice program. I was lucky enough to learn foundational skills about the art of documentary filmmaking from inspiring and powerful filmmakers like Professor Beverly Seckinger and Professor Lisa Molomot. My bi-cultural relationship with myself and within my family captured in my Capstone short film aims to remind society to approach immigration with care and humanity. Humane storytelling is critical to better understanding one another, to reform immigration policy, and ultimately to help us heal from wicked U.S. policies. 

I aspired to express my graduate capstone in a creative and accessible way, and I firmly believed that the program would offer this. I learned about the complexities of the media  defenders on-the-ground and about the art of documentary filmmaking, and even translated and co-led a course with Indigenous climate activists from all over Latin America. I sharpened my networking skills by collaborating with guest speakers as they are a phenomenal resource to help build community in the professional realm of human rights. I admire how the program is always trying to introduce new courses about developing topics, and is always open to your ideas for improvements. 

You can watch my short documentary “El Jardín de Esperanza”/”The Garden of Hope” on YouTube. I welcome connecting via Linked In. Let’s be the change we want to see in the world!