Jennifer Gauthier, communication professor at Randolph College, will deliver the lecture, “Real Injuns and Real Indians: Trends in Native American Cinema,” May 4 at Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris, France.
Gauthier will discuss the stereotypes of Native Americans in Hollywood cinema over the years, such as the “bloodthirsty warrior” and the “wise elder.” She will examine three films (Smoke Signals, by Chris Eyre, 1988; The Doe Boy, by Randy Redroad, 2001; and The Business of Fancydancing, by Sherman Alexie, 2002) made by Native American directors and explore ways the filmmakers are challenging those stereotypes. Gauthier will also demonstrate the ways these films portray masculinity.
Gauthier has a strong interest in global indigenous cinema, and for the last 10 years has studied media produced by Native people of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. She has published several articles and book chapters about the subject.
“I am fascinated by how marginalized groups use film, and now digital media, to rebuild their culture and pass it on to the younger generation,” Gauthier said. “I see it as a political act that attempts to recover lost history and expose aspects of the national past that many people would rather ignore.”
Gauthier was invited to lecture at Sorbonne Nouvelle University by a former College French language assistant, Clementine Tholas, who now teaches at Sorbonne Nouvelle and researches American silent cinema. She presented some of her research at Randolph College last fall.
Tags: communication studies, faculty, faculty research, Jennifer Gauthier, lectures