WMU professor recognized for gender-focused research

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Dr. Jennifer Machiorlatti, Western Michigan University professor of communication, is the recipient of the University's annual Gender Scholar Award, which recognizes the overall quality of the faculty member's work and contributions advancing knowledge in an area of research that has a gender focus. 

Machiorlatti will receive the 2015 award, which includes $1,000, for her work on indigenous women filmmakers and her related research on media, women and storytelling. A public presentation of a documentary she produced is scheduled from 3:30 to 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, in 1025 Brown Hall.

"The 33-minute documentary I will be showing represents over 10 years of documentary work, which took me to four Canadian provinces and 12 US states, and I am very proud to bring it to the WMU community," says Machiorlatti.

This documentary provided opportunities for WMU graduate and undergraduate students to participate in the production process, gaining experience before moving into professional employment. In addition to the documentary, which has been shown at film festivals and academic conferences, Machiorlatti has published academic articles and book chapters on indigenous women filmmakers, and presented her research at more than a dozen academic conference papers.

A website, matriarchal-voices.com, is currently being designed and will feature longer excerpts from her documentary footage as well as biographies of important filmmakers of Native American and First Nations Canadian origin.

For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.