The esteemed Harvard University has made waves with its forward-thinking ideas for decades. Now the legacy seems to continue as it hires a famous drag performer as a new professor, teaching students all about the importance of the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The Ivy League school made the announcement over summer that the drag legend is expected to grace the university halls in the spring semester as a visiting professor. In July the school informed students that Kareem Khubchandani, better known by their drag name LaWhore Vagistani, will teach in the Studies of Gender and Sexuality programme, forming part of the Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus.
Not everyone is pleased to see the top university’s new additions as they move with the times and aim to be more inclusive with their teachings. An angered X user wrote: “Harvard is scraping the bottom of the barrel for professors.”
Another person shared on the social media site: “Paying students and parents should scream for tuition reimbursement! I think previous students would have a case too! They purchased the prestige that Harvard is dragging (pun intended) through the mud!”
Kareem will often teach dressed as and channelling the personality of LaWhore, their personal project that has spanned a decade of performances. The two classes set to be taught over two semesters by Kareem, or their alter ego, include Queer Ethnography in autumn and RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire in the spring semester, as per Harvard’s announcement.
The second class is set to focus on the reality TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race, a touchstone in queer media. After 17 seasons on screens in search of America’s next drag superstar, it’s hard to deny the cultural impact this series has had, not just in the world of television, but in the world of drag.
In an interview conducted by Johns Hopkins University Press back in 2015, Kareem revealed the origins of their memorable stage name. They said: “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,” the queen joked.
As a Tufts University associate professor teaching theatre, dance, and performance studies, Kareem has gone on to author numerous books. These reads include Decolonizer Drag and Ishstyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife, with a new one on the way this year, relating to their teachings, titled Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties.
Kareem wishes to bring the same energy of drag shows into the classroom to help students critically examine identity, culture, and representation. The high-powered lectures can expect to include interactive elements through the likes of performing and attending drag shows to ensure students experience both the theory and practice sides to the course.
News of this new arrival to Harvard emerged following Trump’s decision to unfreeze $2.4 billion (£1.79bn) in federal grants to Harvard. This comes after an agreement was made that the institution would operate a group of new trade schools.
He told reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday: “This would be a giant trade school, or a series of trade schools. It would be run by Harvard.”