Category Archives: Researcher videos

MSU Latinx Film Festival returns with international films, music and conversations

By Isabella Figueroa Nogueira

The MSU Latinx Film Festival (LxFF), cosponsored by the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, returned Feb. 19 -22 for its fourth edition, bringing international cinema, live music and conversations about immigration, environmental justice and identity to Michigan State University and venues across Lansing.

Attendees watch a film at MSU’s Latinx Film Festival. Credit: Scott Boehm.

Founded in 2018 by Scott Boehm, an assistant professor of 20th and 21st Spanish culture, the festival has grown from six films over four days into the largest Latino, Hispanic and Latin American film festival in Michigan. Nearly all of this year’s films were Michigan premieres, and more than half were Midwest premieres.

Several selections were previously screened at major international festivals, including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. Boehm said many of the films had only one or two screenings in the United States before arriving in East Lansing.

“What you’ll find is something you would expect to see in New York or Miami or Houston or San Diego or LA,” Boehm said. “But it’s in Lansing.”

This year’s lineup featured 12 full-length films and shorts from Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Spain and the United States. Topics included immigration, racism, U.S. militarism in Latin America, child sex trafficking, class, ageism and environmental justice.

Environmental justice has become a permanent part of the festival’s programming. Boehm said the climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing the planet and that Indigenous and marginalized communities often feel its effects first. Continue reading →

Knight Center co-sponsors two films at upcoming MSU Latinx Film Festival

The first is titled “Karuara, People of the River.” According to the festival’s website: “A vibrant hand-painted animation brings whimsical Karuara spirits to life in Peru’s Amazon. Their mission: maintain the Marañón River’s ecological balance as the Kukama people fight for the river’s legal personhood.”

J-School professor Bruno Takahashi will be presenting the film alongside one of the directors.

The second is called “Through Rocks and Clouds (Raíz).” According to the website: “Feliciano, an 8-year-old alpaca herder, feels euphoric: Peru has a chance to qualify for the World Cup. Meanwhile the pressure of a mining company puts Feliciano’s village at risk and threatens his world and his dreams.”

Both showings are free and will take place Thursday, Feb. 19 in Wells Hall.

For more information about these films and the rest of the festival, visit https://msulatinxfilmfestival.com/

Open call for 2026 proposals for high school journalism and environmental science collaborations

To encourage collaboration between high school journalism and environmental science classes, we invite teachers to submit proposals for innovative class projects in which journalism students will report about field research by environmental science students. Our principal goals are:

to help young prospective journalists better understand and explain to the public how science is done
to help environmental science students learn to use the media to explain their work to the public.
to promote environmental and science journalism.

The Knight Center intends to award 1-year grants of $2,000 to up to 2 high schools: $1,000 to the journalism program and $1,000 to the environmental science program for equipment, software or scholarships. In addition, the Knight Center will pair each school with a professional journalist to serve as a mentor to participating students and teachers. Continue reading →

Environmental communication symposium and workshop hosting Latin American scholars ends in collaboration

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BY ANNA BARNES, SHEALYN PAULIS

Symposium participants

From Mon. March 31, to Wed. April 2, 2025, Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) hosted the Counter-Hegemonic Environmental Discourses in Latin American Contexts Symposium and Workshop. The event featured a full day of panels where visiting Latin American scholars representing eight countries presented their research on environmental communication.

Latin American perspectives are often marginalized from international academic spaces. Systematic barriers prevent researchers from being included in global conversations, such as language, translation difficulties and emphasis on work produced in the Global North. Additionally, the availability of funding is a stark contrast for academics in the Global South compared to their northern counterparts. These barriers have made scientific inclusion and cooperation between the Global North and South challenging.

The event highlighted research and scholarship from Latin America, with discussions centered on the communication of environmental health issues, sustainability, environmental journalism, and hegemonic perspectives. It also explored the audiences and sources of environmental communication, with particular attention to Indigenous and marginalized communities. Continue reading →