THIRD THURSDAY- Business as (Un)Usual talkback

Center for Experimental Ethnography

Business as (Un)Usual talkback with Maisha Akbar and Brian Shapiro

Business as (Un)Usual, a multi-modal work written, produced and starring Dr. Maisha Akbar and Brian Shapiro, MA, satirizes the question “Why can’t white men listen to Black women?” In this discussion of the film which premiered at 2020 the Philadelphia FringeArts Festival, Akbar and Shapiro will address reactions to the film’s content as well as its methodology. The discussion will also center upon Business as (Un)Usual’s use of ethnographic practices as well as race, and gender issues as explored through personal narratives and music performances. The discussion will be recorded via video, with footage used to create a short film about the discussion itself. All participants will be provided a password-protected link to Business as (Un)Usual for viewing prior to the discussion.

Maisha S. Akbar, Ph.D., is Chair of the Communications and Culture Department at Fort Valley State University (GA). Her recent book Preaching the Blues: Black Feminist Performance in Lynching Plays (Routledge, 2019) documents the performance- based research she conducts as Director of FVSU’s Joseph Adkins Players student drama group. In May 2021, Dr. Akbar participated as a Collaborator in Data and Society’s workshop, “The Hustle Economy: Race Gender and Digital Entrepreneurship.” The American Society for Theatre Research awarded Dr. Akbar a 2020-21 Grant for Researchers with heavy course loads. She is also a 2020 -21 fellow of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) Artist Roster and now serves as the inaugural chair of FVSU’s Social Justice Task Force.

Since 1995, educator and performing artist Brian Shapiro, MA, has been exploring the endless nuances, challenges, and rewards the human communication process offers. A writer, collaborator, and performer of numerous original performance works, Brian’s also a musician with the Philadelphia art-rock quartet, Brian Shapiro Band. An instructor at the Wharton School and an affiliated faculty member at Penn’s Organizational Dynamics program, he also designs and delivers professional development programs across multiple industries, including Philadelphia International Airport, the Port of Portland (OR), Siemens Industry, The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce/Arts and Business Council, Do it Best Corp., IBM, and Comcast. Brian’s authored three books, including Exceptionally Human: Successful Communication in a Distracted World and The Exceptionally Human Airport Experience, and he’s a dedicated tai chi, yoga, and meditation practitioner. Brian attended a doctorate program in Performance Studies at The University of Texas at Austin, and holds a BA (San Diego State University) and MA (San Francisco State University) in Communication Studies.

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THIRD THURSDAY- Business as (Un)Usual talkback

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