Episode 4: Encouraging Empathy Through Art

Imagine A World

In this episode, Karishma Bhagani (2021 cohort), a Ph.D. candidate in Theatre & Performance Studies (TAPS), sheds light on the power of art to unite people and encourage empathy, her journey of growing up in Kenya as a fifth-generation East African to moving to New York to pursue a degree in theater and history, leveraging the arts to drive conversations of change, and so much more.

Highlights from the episode:

• (5:10) Karishma’s upbringing in Kenya and childhood training in dancing
• (9:35) Karishma’s journey into acting and her degree at NYU; her experiences directing and producing, and how they relate to her interest in history
• (16:06) Karishma’s thoughts on decolonizing the theatre canon by expanding it and critiquing it through a decolonial lens
• (19:05) The role of mentoring from strong women and parental support in navigating a career in the arts
• (25:50) Karishma’s motivations for pursuing a PhD in theater and performance studies at Stanford, and closing the gap between academia and practice by using the university as a space for resistance
• (32:22) How the diversity of the Knight-Hennessy community has shaped Karishma’s vision for the arts
• (34:54) Karishma’s experience directing and producing the play Haldi and Honey, written by the playwright Aleya Kassam, for her second-year candidacy exam
• (39:24) Karishma’s improbable facts and her polyglotism
• (41:24) Karishma’s advice to applicants for Knight-Hennessy