9781684582891
Distributed for Brandeis University Press
Lessons in Drag
A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties
Scholarship and performance combine to show how drag can be a blueprint for critique, care, teaching, and worldmaking.
Lessons in Drag brings to life a vibrant and thought-provoking dialogue between scholar Kareem Khubchandani and his drag persona LaWhore Vagistan. Beginning with an intimate interview, the book unfolds in alternating chapters where the two exchange insights, stories, and critiques. Khubchandani delves into the lessons LaWhore’s drag practice offers about academia—shaping his approaches to research, teaching, and writing—while Vagistan reveals how Khubchandani’s scholarship influences her performances, inspiring her understanding of fashion, music, divas, and aunties. Together, their reflections and conversations weave a compelling tapestry of drag’s instructive power. Witty, bold, and deeply personal, Lessons in Drag is both an invitation to explore drag as a practice and a celebration of its transformative potential.
Lessons in Drag brings to life a vibrant and thought-provoking dialogue between scholar Kareem Khubchandani and his drag persona LaWhore Vagistan. Beginning with an intimate interview, the book unfolds in alternating chapters where the two exchange insights, stories, and critiques. Khubchandani delves into the lessons LaWhore’s drag practice offers about academia—shaping his approaches to research, teaching, and writing—while Vagistan reveals how Khubchandani’s scholarship influences her performances, inspiring her understanding of fashion, music, divas, and aunties. Together, their reflections and conversations weave a compelling tapestry of drag’s instructive power. Witty, bold, and deeply personal, Lessons in Drag is both an invitation to explore drag as a practice and a celebration of its transformative potential.
300 pages | 9 color plates | 5 x 8 | © 2025
The Mandel Lectures in the Humanities at Brandeis University
Education: Higher Education
Table of Contents
Introduction: Lessons in Drag Kareem Khubchandani & LaWhore Vagistan
Chapter 1: How to do research Kareem Khubchandani
Chapter 2: How to be a drag queen LaWhore Vagistan
CHapter 3: How to teach Kareem Khubchandani
Chapter 4: How to be an aunty LaWhore Vagistan
Chapter 5: How to write Kareem Khubchandani
Chapter 6: How to be a map LaWHore Vagistan
Conclusion: How to grieve Kareem Khubchandani
Work Cited and Further Reading
Chapter 1: How to do research Kareem Khubchandani
Chapter 2: How to be a drag queen LaWhore Vagistan
CHapter 3: How to teach Kareem Khubchandani
Chapter 4: How to be an aunty LaWhore Vagistan
Chapter 5: How to write Kareem Khubchandani
Chapter 6: How to be a map LaWHore Vagistan
Conclusion: How to grieve Kareem Khubchandani
Work Cited and Further Reading