Film/Cinema Studies Archives

Prof. Aashish Kumar (he/him) is a tenured Full Professor of Television and Immersive Media in the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. His areas of expertise include documentary, interactive and immersive media, participatory media, and storytelling for social change. He is also the Founding Program Director of the Interdisciplinary Minor in Immersive Media, an innovative program launched in conjunction with departments from the Schools of Communication, Engineering and Computer Science, and Humanities, Fine, and Performing Arts.

Prof. Kumar is interested in emerging media forms that use innovative storytelling strategies to help people become more aware of internal diversities and the margins of their communities. To him, such an empathic understanding is key to forming broader solidarities and bridging the gap with “the other.” He is interested in how one’s process of capturing, representing, and distributing these stories can become integral to the overall intention of the storyteller. Prof. Kumar most recently launched an interactive documentary series focusing on the gender and sexual diversity within the South Asian diaspora in North America. Titled “Body, Home, World: South Asian LGBTQ+ Journeys,” the interactive online portal centers around narratives of LGBTQ+ identifying individuals and their families, allowing the viewer to navigate between these multiple viewpoints and to gain an understanding of the uniqueness as well as the interdependence of each experience.

Dr. Kumar is the recipient of two Fulbright Specialist awards (2016 and 2019) and a Fulbright Senior Scholar award (2008). In addition to teaching courses at all levels of the television curriculum he also serves on the Advisory Board of Hofstra University’s Center for Civic Engagement and the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice.

Prof. Kumar earned an MFA in Television Production from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College, an MS in Radio/TV/Film from Indiana State University, and an MA and BA (Honors) in Sociology from the University of Delhi. He resides in New York City with his wife and son and enjoys playing the guitar and learning Hindustani Classical music.

Sexual minorities in India have made significant legal gains with two recent Supreme Court decisions – one that recognizes and protects the rights of transgender people and another that ends the criminalization of homosexuality. However, most LGBTQ+ activists contend that the campaign to change hearts and minds must take place over the long-term through the humanizing and normalizing of India’s LGBTQ+ community. Through his Fulbright-Nehru grant, Prof. Kumar proposes to capture the stories of families with LGBTQ+ individuals in short documentary films and make them available through an interactive online portal. These short films will center the experience of families as well as LGBTQ+ individuals, demonstrating that allyship and advocacy go together.

Ms. Leslie Shampaine has been telling stories throughout her professional life, from the ballet stage where she performed across the world during a 13-year career, to the television screen where she has produced award-winning programs for PBS, Discovery Channel, A&E, CBS, and Al Jazeera.

Her background in the arts led her to produce and direct the feature documentary, Call Me Dancer, in 2023. The film has received critical acclaim and an award from the New York Women in Film & Television for Excellence in Documentary Directing.

Ms. Shampaine’s work includes cultural and educational programming. For eight years, she was part of the production team that created the biographical films for the Emmy Award-winning Kennedy Center Honors. She was senior production executive at Al Jazeera English in Washington, D.C., where she managed current affairs programming in North America, including the award-winning investigative series, Fault Lines and People & Power, and the discussion programs, The Stream, Upfront, and Empire.

Ms. Shampaine produced the PBS programs One World: India; Closer to Truth: Cosmos, Consciousness and Meaning; and Avoiding Armageddon. Her other productions include Who Betrayed Anne Frank (Discovery Channel) – winner of a Telly, a Cine Golden Eagle, and a Gold Remi at the Houston World Fest; DC Cupcakes (TLC); the Smithsonian Networks series’ Seriously Amazing Objects; and Fireworks (A&E, with George Plimpton), which was nominated for an Emmy and an ACE.

She has continued to work as a teaching artist to youth from underserved backgrounds and to seniors with physical disabilities. She has taught dance to children at the Lighthouse for the Blind; worked with seniors to record their personal stories for NPR’s StoryCorps; and taught movement to people with Parkinson’s disease through Dance for PD.

Ms. Shampaine’s Fulbright-Nehru project is seeking to understand the methodologies of arts education with a focus on digital storytelling as it is directed toward underserved youth. Her research is looking at the blossoming of the digital format and how it is impacting storytelling, teaching, communication, and most significantly, participation in a worldwide community. Besides, she is starting the social-impact stage of her film project, Call Me Dancer, to create culturally relevant videos targeted toward youth, to be used by teachers and arts educators. She is also creating short-form videos with curriculum guides for teachers who engage students in meaningful examinations of relevant social issues.