Newly announced visiting professor at the vaunted Harvard University Kareem Khubchandani performs drag under the stage name “LaWhore Vagistan.
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Harvard University has announced the hiring of drag performer and academic Kareem Khubchandani as a visiting professor, who will teach courses in the Studies of Gender and Sexuality program.
The Ivy League school welcomed Khubchandani—better known on stage as “LaWhore Vagistani”—in a July announcement. Currently an associate professor at Tufts University in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, Khubchandani will teach two courses during the year: Queer Ethnography this fall and RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire in the spring, a class centered around the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Kareem Khubchandani is a professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance
Studies at Tufts University.
Khubchandani’s drag persona, “LaWhore Vagistani,” has been a central part of their academic and artistic work for more than a decade, even featuring in projects like the music video Sari. In a 2015 self-interview published by Johns Hopkins University Press, Khubchandani described the origins of the stage name, explaining it was inspired by the Pakistani city of Lahore and by their own satirical take on South Asian identity and sexuality.
The academic incorporates his drag persona in classes, revealing in an interview
he will often lecture as “LaWhore Vagistan.”Facebook / LaWhore Vagistan
Beyond performance, Khubchandani has written extensively on drag and queer culture. Their published works include Decolonize Drag and Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife. This fall, they are releasing a new book, Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties.
Harvard’s decision to bring Khubchandani on board comes shortly after President Trump restored $2.4 billion in federal grant funding to the university, following an agreement that the school would expand trade-based education alongside its traditional academic programs.
Harvard appears to have reached an agreement with the Trump administration that would see billions in assets unfrozen in exchange for opening, running, and funding a new suite of trade schools.AFP via Getty Images
