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Bio

Dr. Sylvia C. Frain is a Whitinga Research Fellow in Visual Arts | Toi Whakatu in the School of Art + Design | Te Kura Toi a Hoahoa in the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies | Te Ara Auaha at Auckland University of Technology | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. She is also co-founder, vice chair and secretary of the non-profit, Fåha’ Digital Media (FDM) on Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). FDM’s mission is to support Indigenous storytellers while developing an equitable film industry in the Mariana Islands. Previously, Sylvia served in the U.S. State Department as a locally employed staff in the role of Public Affairs Coordinator in the Public Affairs Section at the United States Consulate General in Auckland, U.S. Mission in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue. Her most recent publication highlights famalåo’an and wāhine (women) led film projects in Oceania. Sylvia has earned both local and global awards for her humanities research including; the 2021 CNMI Governor’s Humanities Award for Research and Publications and the 2022 Routledge Area Studies Interdisciplinarity Award. She is currently producing a Pacific Islanders in Communications funded short documentary film entitled, Tip of the Spear. The production plan includes a mentoring program for aspiring filmmakers and supports the launch of trans-archipelago filmmaking collaborations. Sylvia earned her PhD in Peace & Conflict Studies at The National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies | Te Ao O Rongomaraeroa at the University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga Otāgo in Ōtepoti | Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand and a Master’s in International Studies in the field of Peace & Conflict Resolution at the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. She was the inaugural postdoctoral research fellow at the Pacific Media Centre | Te Amokura at Auckland University of Technology in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2018. She is a member of the Vaka Vāhines, a women’s outrigger canoe (waka ama) paddling team.