Quiet Rooms

Outside of trauma rooms in hospitals around the country, there is a place that those in the medical field call the “Quiet Room.” According to Dr. Cornelia Griggs and Dr. Peter Masiakos of Massachusetts General Hospital, “it is a bland spot; a few soft chairs surround a table that holds a box of crisp institutional tissues. There may be a picture or two on the wall, but generally it is an unassuming room where [physicians] tell mothers about the deaths of their children, far too often because of firearm violence.”

Produced collaboratively by Emerson College students and survivors of homicide victims from the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, the documentary Quiet Rooms is an honest and poetic reflection about the impacts and root causes of gun violence in Boston’s communities, as shared by survivors in their own words.

"We want to make sure we’re working with young people, because a lot of times, young people are not given a seat at the table when it comes to creating solutions to the issues they’re dealing with.”

— Nate McLean-Nichols, Program Manager, TE Boston

Social Impact Studios, facilitated by the Engagement Lab, give Emerson students and faculty the opportunity to work directly with local grassroots changemakers to co-create media projects that will make an impact in Boston and beyond.

Crossovers & Connections was co-created in Spring 2024’s Social Impact Studio "Interactive Filmmaking for Peace in Boston," in partnership with the Center for Teen Empowerment.