Speaker Calendar
Past Events
Apr 15, 2021, 12:30pm EDT
When Drag Queens Teach Nightlife at University
Featuring: Dr. Kareem Khubchandani
Dr. Kareem Khubchandani, Assistant Professor of Drama & Dance and Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Tufts University. He is the author of Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife and Queer Nightlife, and is also known as the performance artist and drag queen LaWhore Vagistan.
Apr 1, 2021, 12:30pm EDT
Building Community for Queer and Trans Performers
Featuring: Dr. Lady J
Dr. Lady J, Ph.D., is a Cleveland independent scholar, drag artist, trans activist, and community developer. She is the world's first working drag queen to hold a Ph.D. in drag history, hosts the Untucking the Past podcast, and also serves as Director of Programming, Education & Outreach for Studio West 117, a new LGBTQ+ hub for Greater Cleveland.
March 18, 2021, 12:30pm EDT
Combining Art and Activism in Rust Belt Burlesque
Featuring: Bella Sin
Bella Sin, "Cleveland's Burlesque Queen," is a Latinx activist and burlesque artist, featured in Rust Belt Burlesque. They are a proud nonbinary Mexican Immigrant woman who is the Executive Producer of the Ohio International Burlesque Festival and owner of Cleveland's Le Femme Mystique.
p1nkstar is a musician and performance artist based in Austin, Texas. She works in the fine arts and nightlife scenes to create inclusive spaces that center the work of queer and trans artists. As an individual artist, her work has been exhibited at Blanton Museum of Art, The Visual Arts Center, SXSW, Fusebox Festival & The Roots & Culture: Contemporary Arts Center in Chicago & she has supported acts like Charli XCX, Crystal Waters, The Ladies of LCD Soundsystem, and Alok V. Menon.
February 18, 2021, 12:30pm EST
Black Queer Nightlife
Featuring: Dr. Kemi Adeyemi, Dr. Julian Glover, Dr. Theodore Greene
Dr. Kemi Adeyemi, Assistant Professor of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington and Director of the Black Embodiments Studio. Her writing theorizes the contours of contemporary Black queer life and includes the forthcoming books Feels Right: Black Queer Women's Choreographies of Belonging in Chicago and Queer Nightlife.
Dr. Julian Kevon Glover, Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies and the Department of Dance & Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University. They are an academic, activist, and artist and longtime member of the ballroom scene and an ethnographer of the experiences of transgender women in the ballroom scene.
Dr. Theodore Greene, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bowdoin College and Chair of the American Sociological Association's LGBTQ Caucus. He researches queer placemaking to understand how urban redevelopment shapes the relationships between individuals and communities.
February 4, 2021, 12:30pm EST
Save our Stages: Lobbying Congress to Save Nightlife
Featuring: Dayna Frank, Tobi Parks, and Sean Watterson
Dayna Frank, President of the National Independent Venue Association. She was named a Rolling Stone "Future 25" for 2020, and is CEO of Minneapolis’ First Avenue, thrice nominated for Pollstar's "Nightclub of the Year."
Tobi Parks is a laywer, consultant, and owner of Des Moines' xBk performing arts venue founded in late 2019. She is also the Executive Director of Station 1 Records, and Iowa representative of NIVA's Save Our Stages.
Sean Watterson, one of "Cleveland's Most Interesting People," is owner of Happy Dog, and Ohio representative for NIVA's Save Our Stages. He is also Chief Strategy Officer at Rust Belt Analytica.