Tashnuva Anan Shishir | Lights, Identity, Action: The Role of Theater & Media in fostering Bengali Queer and LGBTQ+ Activism
Posted on 2024-03-14On the occasion of Women’s History Month, the Bangali Student’s Association (BSA), in collaboration with the Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, Gender Equity Resource Center (GenEq), and the South Asian, Southwest Asian, and North African (SSWANA) Initiative, at UC Berkeley invites you to a conversation with Bangladeshi transgender rights activist, model, actress, and news anchor, Tashnuva Anan Shishir.
Spotlighting Tashnuva Shishir’s transformative journey, the event will delve into the ways in which theater and media have propelled Bengali queer and LGBTQ+ activism. Through Shishir’s experiences and career, the conversation will elaborate the power of mass media and the performing arts in effecting self-transformation and social change. The discussion will also foreground the significance of productions like Shishir’s play Public Obscenities within mainstream media, probing their profound implications for Bengali queer activism and societal discourse.
Tashnuva Anan Shishir will be in conversation with Cynthia Rahman, a UC Berkeley undergraduate student majoring in global studies (with a minor in human rights). Mirza Taslima, Professor of Anthropology at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh and Tausif Noor, Ph.D. Student, History of Art, UC Berkeley will serve as discussants.
Event moderated by Elora Shehabuddin, Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and Global Studies and Director, Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, UC Berkeley.
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Event live streamed on FB at: ChowdhuryCenter atUCBerkeley
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Speaker Bio: Tashnuva Anan Shishir is a Bangladeshi transgender rights activist, model, actress and news anchor who became Bangladesh’s first openly transgender news anchor in March 2021. She is currently playing the lead role in an Off Broadway play titled, Public Obscenities.
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Established in 2013 with a generous gift from the Subir & Malini Chowdhury Foundation, The Subir & Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at UC Berkeley champions the study of Bangladesh’s cultures, peoples and history. The first of its kind in the US, the Center’s mission is to create an innovative model combining research, scholarships, the promotion of art and culture, and the building of ties between institutions in Bangladesh and the University of California.
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PARKING INFORMATION Please note that parking is not always easily available in Berkeley. Take public transportation if possible or arrive early to secure your spot.
Event is FREE and OPEN to the public.
Speaker: Tashnuva Anan Shishir, Bangladeshi transgender rights activist, model, actress and news anchor Moderator: Elora Shehabuddin, Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and Global Studies; Director, Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, UC Berkeley Panelist: Cynthia Rahman, UC Berkeley undergraduate student Panelist: Mirza Taslima Sultana, Professor of Anthropology at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh Panelist: Tausif Noor, PhD Student, History of Art Contact Info:- 510-642-3608
Access Coordinator:
ISAS Staff, [email protected], 510-642-3608