iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Registration is now open for my upcoming talk "Canada’s Forgotten First Blind Actress and Social Worker: Addressing Archival Accessibility Barriers in the Search for Louise Cowan" It'll be held at TMU on October 1st and 12 (EST). The talk is hybrid if not in Toronto www.torontomu.ca/disability-p...

torontomu.ca

Canada’s Forgotten First Blind Actress and Social Worker

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Thank you again to LUX - Artists' Moving Image for the invitation for me to talk on disability in experimental film collections. I've linked the event page and recording below. Feel free to reach out if you view it and have any additional questions. lux.org.uk/event/online...

lux.org.uk

[Online] Ethical considerations for the care of disability-related collections material: Michael Marlatt - LUX

Plain English Audio Version (Listening Time: 4 minutes) Event: Ethical considerations for the care of disability-related collections material: Michael Marlatt The third online lecture in the ‘Sharing ...

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

'll be hosting a talk/workshop titled "I hope I can find myself in here: Examining Accessibility at Carleton University’s Audio-Visual Resource Centre" at Carleton University on Friday, September 25, 2026 from 9-11 am. The in-person talk is open to the public. carleton.ca/filmstudies/...

carleton.ca

“I hope I can find myself in here”: Examining Accessibility at Carleton University’s Audio-Visual Resource Centre with Michael Marlatt - Film Studies

Open to all. For the purpose of this workshop, “finding oneself” refers to disability representation within the collection as well as navigating the space itself. The workshop will discuss accessibili...

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

One place to start to learn about this history is Episode 3 of History in 60. We specifically looked at the fight for getting disability included in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1980. The episode is freely available through AMI+. The episode also outlines what is still being done today.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

We're a little over a month away before the opening night screening of Being Heumann at TIFF. I hope Canadians attending the screening take the time to also learn about Canada's own fight for disability inclusion.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Happy National Canadian Film Day Here is the link for Back to God's Country and the recorded interview I held with Christina Stewart, Tom McSorley, and Piers Handling on the importance of Canada's film archives. It'll be available for 48 hours. Happy watching! watch.canfilmday.ca/landing/3778...

watch.canfilmday.ca

On-Demand Viewing Portal

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Flight prices to the UK from Canada have increased by over 33%, so the flight alone would have been $2300. I wasn't able to generate enough workshop interest to be able to pay for the trip. That's one unfortunate side of working freelance is that there is no institutional financial support.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

I, unfortunately, have to cancel my presentation "Another example of FOR us but not BY us?: Disabled participation in the development of AI archival technology” at ARA later this year in Glasgow due to cost.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

"Never forget" has lost most of its meaning in a time of distorted cultural amnesia. "Are you ok?" means public execution in 2026. Will our virtual words be saved for future generations to read and study? Only time will tell for certain. If they are saved, however, please pay attention.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

I had a great time leading a virtual archival accessibility workshop with staff at The London Archives this morning. It's always interesting hosting workshops internationally because it gives you a sense of the similarities and differences versus here in Canada.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

@synoptiquejournal.bsky.social just published its special issue on "Teaching Media Archives." Included is my article "Supporting the 36%: A Teaching Guide on Student Mental Health in Media Archival Education." Mental health awareness is crucial for those in archival managerial and educator roles.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

My workshops have been hosted in multiple different countries with government archives, museums, medical collections, film archives, non-profits, archival professional organizations, universities, and more. Send me a message here or my email marlattmphd(at)gmail.com if interested.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Currently accepting virtual bookings for my archive and museum accessibility workshops from November-March. Inperson will begin again in the spring. Spots are filling up quickly.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Sitting in Heathrow waiting for my morning flight home. I had a great time here in the UK presenting at ARA @araukie.bsky.social and hosting workshops with the Imperial War Museum and the Wellcome Collection @wellcomecollection.bsky.social. I hope to make it back again at some point in 2026!

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Note: You do not get to dictate how I describe myself in my own bio. Identity-first language is a personal choice and a very important one to me. I am proud of how my brain works because it makes me me. So please be respectful of how people refer to themselves.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

I had a great archival accessibility talk today. Unfortunately, the organizers received an email complaint about the use of “disabled” vs “person with a disability” in my bio. I feel bad that they were put in an uncomfortable position but were wonderful about it.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

I spoke about the films in a way that showed care and compassion for those on the screen from my own lived experience. I am now the Dr. when 100+ years ago I would have potentially been the one filmed. That honour is not lost on me. I hope I did them proud.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Thank you to the SCSMI conference for allowing me to screen part of these films. It’s very likely the first time in 120 years that someone who experiences the same seizures themselves has screened the films.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

These films have been screened in medical schools, “freak shows”, and in avant-garde film circles in the 120 years since. They were gawked at and othered.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

In 1905, Boston area doctor Dr. Walter G Chase filmed multiple people experiencing tonic-clonic seizures in a pretty inhumane way. These were individuals who were living at the Craig Colony for Epileptics in upstate New York at the time.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Please also join us for lunch on June 12th for the Film Bytes screening. It'll be a fun program of Canadian university-related films. Please also feel free to say hello. I'm excited to hear what everyone else is up to.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

On June 10th I'll be presenting "From Edmonton to Ottawa and Beyond: Disability Participation at the Annual ACA Conference." It'll be interesting presenting on the ACA conference while AT the ACA conference. How meta!

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

ACA is coming up fast. I am pulling triple duty this year. The Sound and Moving Images Special Interest Section (S.M.I.S.I.S.) will be hosting a casual drop-in session on June 9th.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I had a great time yesterday with Association of Canadian Archivists hosting my Accessibility Strategies for a more Inclusive Canadian Archive workshop. It sold out in two days so I am setting time aside to host a couple more of my general archival accessibility workshops. forms.gle/CatnkrPZEJzG...

forms.gle

Workshop: Accessibility Strategies for a more Inclusive Archive RSVP (Zoom)

marlattmphd@gmail.com (416) 575-7884

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

I have unfortunately cancelled my upcoming SCMS 2025 conference presentation that was set for this April in Chicago. As I am Canadian I will likely not be travelling to the US for the foreseeable future.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

I am hoping a book review can be included in the upcoming accessibility guest edited issue of the Moving Image. This could be a great opportunity for a graduate student to be published for the first time.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

People were asking about the release date of Preserving Disability during the AMIA Publishing panel. Turns out that it's today. Included is my chapter ""But Don't Those Cause You Seizures!?" Epilepsy Activism through Film Archiving." lnkd.in/gnH6EDad

Publication announcement: Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession, edited by Gracen Brilmyer & Lydia Tang, an edited collection of 22 chapters on disability & the archival profession: featuring disabled archival users, disabled archivists, and archival labor on disability! Forward by Alice Wong. Black text with blue, red, yellow and pink hand drawn squiggles on a dark blue background.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Looks like I may have the wrong hashtag. #scms25

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Excited that I will present at SCMS on the need for a global audiovisual archival disability network! #SCMS2025

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Looking to host more archival accessibility workshops this winter if anyone is interested. I've hosted them previously with broadcast archives, government archives, universities, and professional organizations. Based on my own lived experience in the field with epilepsy and my dissertation work.

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Since this is a new network I also wanted to share that we are still looking for submissions for a special upcoming issue of The Moving Image that is dedicated to Accessibility in Moving Image Archives. The submission deadline is November 30th. amianet.org/wp-content/u...

amianet.org

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Michael Marlatt @michaelmarlatt.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Excited to announce my first published book chapter titled "Splicing Back against the Censors: How Archive/ Counter-Archive Saved the Ontario Board of Censors’ Film Censorship Records from Destruction" comes out in just over a week! www.exeterpress.co.uk/products/the...

exeterpress.co.uk

The Screen Censorship Companion

Throughout the history of film, censorship has existed everywhere—in all shapes, colours, and dimensions. The act of restricting the free production, circulation, screening, and consumption of movies ...

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