Health Sciences

I am passionate about stories, particularly those about people. I love reading them, hearing them and writing about them. I believe stories help us to understand the world and our place in it. In doing research with women in Indonesia I hope their stories about life, love and relationships can enhance our understanding about Muslim women and help us see beyond the often simplistic accounts we often hear in wider society.

Anthropology, Gender studies, Indonesian studies, Gender and Islam, Ethnographic research methodology.

Affairs outside the State: Women negotiating marriage and divorce in rural Lombok, Indonesia

My research focuses on the lives of married women in a small village on the island of Lombok in Eastern Indonesia. My thesis explores women’s experiences in negotiating entry into and out of marriage and how this is mediated by local interpretations of Islam, adat (local custom) and to a lesser extent formal state law.

Selected to participate in Asialink Leaders Program 2009 (declined)

Recipient of The Ian Potter Foundation Asialink Scholarship to support participation in the Asialink Leaders Program 2009 (declined)  

Recipient of Scholarship to attend Indonesian Studies Graduate Summer School at Asia Pacific Week, Australian National University Canberra 27-30 January 2009

Recipient of La Trobe University Faculty of Health Sciences Postgraduate Support Grant towards PhD fieldwork costs.

Awarded an Endeavour Research Fellowship from the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training

Recipient of La Trobe University Faculty of Health Sciences Postgraduate Support Grant PhD fieldwork costs.

Recipient of La Trobe University Postgraduate Research Scholarship, awarded for PhD studies 2006-2009.

Platt M, and Gifford SM, 2003 “Promoting health through promoting work: the dilemmas of disclosure in the workplace for employers and Australian women living with hepatitis C.” Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 14:180-6.

2009 Platt M, Indonesian Women’s Marital Rights and Surat Nikah, Indonesian Studies Graduate Summer School at Asia Pacific Week, Australian National University, Canberra 27-30 January 2009.

2008 Platt M, Indonesian Marriage Laws & Women’s Marital Experiences in Teduk, Lombok Barat, Centre for Islamic Law & Society, Islamic Studies Postgraduate Conference, University of Melbourne, 17-18 November.

2007 Platt M, The Socialisation of Public and Private Gender Ideology In Australia.  Kajian Rutin Islam dan Gender Bersamaan Dengan Lounching Jurnal Qawwam, Pusat Studi Wanita, IAIN Mataram, May 5 2007. (Bahasa Indonesia)

2005 Metz K, Platt M, Collisions of Culture, Women in Asia Conference 2005, Sydney, Sept 26-28, 2005.

2009 Platt M, Affairs Outside the State: Women Negotiating Divorce in Lombok Indonesia. Invited speaker, Monash Asia Institute Seminar Series, Monash University, 4 June 2009.

2007 Platt M, Differences in Gender Ideology between Australia and Indonesia, Guest panellist, Launch of Pusat Studi Wanita, STAI Ibrahimy Qamarul Huda, Bagu, Lombok Tengah, Indonesia, 9 June 2007 (Bahasa Indonesia)

2006 Platt M, Regulating Sexuality: State Control of Abortion and the Consequences for Young Muslim Women in Indonesia, Guest lecture for subject: Law & Society in South East Asia The University of Melbourne, August 2006

Email: mwplatt@students.latrobe.edu.au

Phone (03) 9285 5104