New York (2015) Bridging Gaps: Where is the Persona in Celebrity and Journalism?
The Terrace Club 25 W. 51st St. (Off Fifth Ave.) New York, NY September 2-3, 2015 In tabloid journalism and in social media, gossip, rumors and scandals about celebrities develop intimacy among fans. Such gossip and rumour mongering serves a purpose in society: to build a common moral ground on the backs of celebrity lives. However what about the celebrities themselves whose emotional lives are consumed by us? The production, circulation and reception of these celebrities then negate the democratic role of journalism in providing value-free information and undermine artistic talent and...
Read MoreRed Light Express
Can a red light become just light? I think so. I am not talking about traffic lights or electromagnetic radiation. I am talking about red light districts, where girls are trafficked in sex trade. My cousin Trina Talkudar, co-founder of anti-trafficking NGO Kranti, empowers Asia’s most infamous red-light area in Mumbai and turns daughters of sex workers into agents of social change. I was in awe and admiration when I heard personal stories during her graduation in Washington D.C. last month. I was also pleased to meet and share time with Sheetal Jain, one of the revolutionary daughters who...
Read MoreBeyond the Professoriate / Bridging Gaps – May 2015 Conferences
Dear Readers, Hope the last week of April is going well for all! May is coming with two empowering conferences that are highly recommended for career development: • Beyond the Professoriate by Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) panelist Jennifer Polk (www.fromphdtolife.com). Online conference for PhDs 2 and 9 May, 2015 Speakers include 25 PhDs from a variety of fields including communication, marketing, public relations, social media, engineering, ethnomusicology, genetics, German and more! Explore career options, ask questions of working professionals, learn skills and connect...
Read MoreDriving Words
“The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word”. Mata Hari’s beautiful and powerful saying is part of Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit’s journey in which she explores dance as a metaphor of life. She quotes Carl Sandburg and further highlights that “poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” Read more on her dance page. Madhuri Dixit is one of the many famous actresses who not only acts but also dances, and shares it in interviews and on stage. That’s how I grew up – witnessing art as a creative element of fame. For me, fame...
Read MoreThe Moving Writer
Dear Readers, Books, blogs and reflections are filling my week in Canada. I just came back from Portugal, where I was invited as a speaker on celebrity, persona and selfies in activism. It was an honour to present developments in celebrity activism for human rights, animal rights, and environmental sustainability at the Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI) there. Representation of invisible human conditions and non-human animals in The Save Movement and were deeply touching and memorable for me. Gratitude goes to Dr Anita Krajnc for bearing witness and offering the images that I presented...
Read MoreFrom Publications to Public Lectures
Dear Readers, I am writing from Toronto Pearson International Airport – had a lovely stay in Canada where I got covered in Chatelaine and Flare magazines. Thanks to writer Sydney Loney for her excellent interview and views. The article reached out to over 120K readers this month. Check out Chatelaine’s April issue for the print edition of her article – will be in newsstands across Canada soon! I am also thrilled to announce that my article “Theatre, Performance and Memory in Fame” is now part of the Double Special Issue: ‘Audiences for stardom and...
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