Harvard University has appointed drag performer Kareem Khubchandani, known by the stage name “LaWhore Vagistan,” as a visiting professor to teach courses within its Studies of Gender and Sexuality program.
In a message sent to the Harvard community in July, the Ivy League school announced that Khubchandani would teach classes during the upcoming academic year. The courses include “Queer Ethnography” in the fall semester and “RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire” in the spring, according to a report by the New York Post.
Khubchandani, an associate professor at Tufts University’s School of Arts and Sciences, often lectures in drag and has built a public persona as “LaWhore Vagistan.” In a 2015 interview published by Johns Hopkins University Press, he explained the meaning behind the name and persona.
“My name is LaWhore Vagistan, my preferred pronouns are ‘she’ or ‘aunty.’ I chose ‘LaWhore’ because my family traces its origins to Pakistan: Lahore is an important city in Pakistan, and well, I’m a bit of a w*ore,” he said in the interview.
Khubchandani has previously been highlighted by TPUSA’s Professor Watchlist and was featured in a 2019 Campus Reform report, which noted his practice of lecturing in drag at universities to discuss “queer nightlife” and to bring “the nightclub to the classroom.” He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology, along with a master’s degree and a PhD in performance studies from Northwestern University.
