Kareem Khubchandani is a researcher, performance artist, and organizer. Khubchandani's research, teaching, and performance exists at the intersections between queer nightlife, global politics, ethnography,

South Asian diaspora The South Asian diaspora, also known as the Desi diaspora, is the group of people whose ancestral origins lie in South Asia, but who live outside the region. There are over 44 million people in this diaspora. Endonyms South Asians in the diaspo ...

, and drag. Khubchandani performs in

drag Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street a ...

as LaWhore Vagistan, who interweaves storytelling, standup comedy, body art, theater, and digital media.

Education and work

Khubchandani holds a BA in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

from

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

, an MA and PhD in performance studies from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, and was the inaugural Embrey Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Women's and Gender Studies at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. As an author, Khubchandani has been published in '' Scholar and Feminist Online'', ''

Transgender Studies Quarterly ''TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering transgender studies, with an emphasis on cultural studies and the humanities. Established in 2014 and published by Duke University Press, it is the first ...

'', ''

Journal of Asian American Studies The ''Journal of Asian American Studies'' is a triannual academic journal established in 1998 and is the official publication of the Association for Asian American Studies. The journal publishes scholarly articles exploring theoretical development ...

'', ''

The Velvet Light Trap ''The Velvet Light Trap'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering film and media studies. It is edited by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Texas at Austin. Each issue covers critical, theoret ...

'', '' Theater Topics'', ''

Theatre Journal The ''Theatre Journal'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the theatre arts, with articles from the October and December issues centering on a predetermined theme. It is an official publication of The Association for Theatre i ...

'', and ''The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies''. Upcoming essays will be featured in ''Other Pop Empires'', ''The Global Encyclopedia of GLBTQ History'', and ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies''. Khubchandani's first academic monograph, ''Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife'' (University of Michigan Press, 2020), is a performance ethnography that examines queer social spaces in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Alongside Elora Chowdhury and Faith Smith, he co-curates the Feminisms Unbound roundtable series for the greater

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

area's Graduate Consortium of Women's Studies. Khubchandani has also worked for the Association for Theater in Higher Education, serving as LGBTQ Focus Group Conference Planner, and the Vice President for Advocacy. As an activist, he has worked with TrikoneChicago, a South Asian LGBTQ organization, and with the Bangalore Campaign for Sexuality Minorities Rights. Khubchandani serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and the Department of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

Performance

Khubchandani performs in drag as LaWhore Vagistan, often combining performance with lecturing about queer nightlife, gender discipline, and South Asian diasporic culture. With Khubchandani's teaching, Vagistan is often featured as a guest-lecturer, allowing for an alternative, performing pedagogy, as presented by a South Asian drag queen. In one of Vagistan's performances, ''Lessons in Drag'', she raises issues of gender discipline and explores South Asian popular culture through anecdotes, monologues, research interviews, stand-up comedy, and dance. According to Khubchandani, Vagistan's name is rooted in the image of the Indian subcontinent,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, as a vagina; it also stems from an investment in the subcontinent as being unified, undivided by colonialism or national lines. Vagistan has performed at Austin International Drag Festival, Mustard Seed South Asian Film Festival,

The Asia Society The Asia Society is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and around the world (Hong Ko ...

, AS220,

Queens Museum The Queens Museum (formerly the Queens Museum of Art) is an art museum and educational center at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. Established in 1972, the museum includes the '' Panorama of the City of New ...

, Jack Theater,

Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, also referred to as BAAD!, is a New York performing and visual art workshop space and performance venue located in The Bronx. The Academy is home to the Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre and The Bronx Dance Coalition. ...

, Not Festival, and A.R.T. Oberon. Apart from his performances, Khubchandani's videos have been screened at the Mississauga South Asian Film Festival, Austin OUTsider Multi-Arts festival, Hyderabad Queer Film Festival, and the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

3rd i film festival.

References

External links

Voguing in Bangalore: Desire, Blackness, and Femininity in Globalized India
by Kareem Khubchandani

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khubchandani, Kareem Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Colgate University alumni Northwestern University alumni South Asian American culture American people of Indian descent American queer artists American performance artists Tufts University faculty American drag queens of Asian descent American drag queens