July 8, 2021
EXPLORING LITTLE BURGUNDAY: EXPERIENCES OF AN IMMIGRANT BANGLADESHI MUSLIM WOMAN IN FRENCH CANADA
My upcoming guest Nafissah Rahman will help us to understand what it means to grow up and live in Canada as a Muslim, a woman of color, a hyphenated Canadian and lead a predominantly marginalized community on July 8. Nafissah is an inspiring community leader and a Muslim Bangladeshi Canadian. We hope to engage in a courageous conversation to understand Canada critically and unapologetically. As Bengali Muslim Immigrants in Canada, Nafissah and I will engage in a dialogue to understand our collective subjectivity in the Canadian context.
June 28, 2021
HOW TO RAISE A FEMINIST SON
My upcoming guest Dr. Sonora Jha and I will discuss her book: "How to Raise a Feminist Son" on June 28 at 10 PM Bangladesh time. As a parent and a teacher, I recognize that raising a feminist son is a monumentally challenging task. I must say that while reading Dr. Jha's book, I felt I wish I read this book decades earlier, which would immensely help me to become a more conscientious, considerate, and compassionate son, brother, partner, and father. As I was reading the book, at times, I felt sad, and I wanted to cry. At times, I felt ashamed, and I wanted to apologize to many people I have hurt (and I have and I will). At times, I felt compassionate towards my younger self and wanted apologies from other people. I will state this unapologetically: Toxic masculinity hurts us all irrespective of our race, gender, sexual orientation, and social class. My words will always fall short if I wanted to express my gratitude towards Dr. Jha for writing this book. I strongly recommend Dr. Jha's book to all my friends, families, loved ones, and our audience. It is an absolute treasure trove. Please join us and be part of this immensely critical conversation.
June 27, 2021
REPRESENTING BANGLADESH RESPONSIBLY IN THE DIGITAL SPACES
We had to reschedule our conversation about Representing Bangladesh in Digital Spaces for June 27. I am deeply grateful to my upcoming guests Shamim Ahmed Jitu Bhai and Mofazzal Hossain Sumon for being kind and accomodating. Researchers have identified that misrepresentation in digital spaces spreads faster and lasts longer. Hence, we need to think critically about the socioeconomic vectors of digital spaces. We need to understand how tech titans leverage our participation in digital spaces and weaponize our emotions for their capitalist gains. We need to think about how our digital footprint shapes our collective imagination and who controls it. In a hyper-connected world, we need to question what informs our socioeconomic and political-cultural perceptions.
June 25, 2021
EXPLORING SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED DOCUMENTARY FILM
My upcoming guest Dr. David Borish will discuss how documentary films can be used to bring positive social changes on June 25 at 9 PM Bangladesh time. Dr. Borish used documentary filmmaking as a research method for his doctoral dissertation. We, humans, are storytelling beings. The stories we associate with significantly shape our sense of self. Unfortunately, most academic research is written in an inaccessible language. Universities are run with taxpayers' money. But do these taxpayers benefit from our research when we write it in inaccessible language? We researchers use communities as sites of knowledge extraction that mostly benefits us— the researchers. When the dissertations are done, papers are published, and doctorate degrees are awarded, many communities whose lives have been researched do not know what has been written about them. Documentary films can be a powerful tool for knowledge production and, more importantly, knowledge translation.