Workshops & Seminars
International Engagement and Global Influence
Dr. Israfil Shaheen has conducted workshops and attended seminars across the globe, gaining invaluable insights from diverse perspectives, and he has built strong international networks and innovative solutions across varied cultural and professional contexts.
2023, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014
Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai (China): During my decade long connection with Republic of China’s most important theatre and arts academy, I conducted masterclasses, symposiums, transcultural presentations, speeches, lectures, workshops, curated festivals and served on the Jury Board. My areas of expertise included culture, society, state and individual, national educational philosophy, cultural preservation, and cultural exchange. My speeches, lectures, and workshops particularly emphasized importance of cultural knowledge creation leading to improved employment opportunities by integrating cultural practice within state policy, its legal and administrative framework.
2017
Department of Performing Arts, Beijing Drama School, China. I was invited as an expert and learner to learn about operatic technique and from my perspective I shared operatic flavour in Bangladesh Yatra tradition.
2018
Sharm El-Sheikh International Theatre Festival. Conducted intensive masterclass acting workshop for all the participating countries.
2017
Dramatic Arts, Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, France. Attended acting workshop conducted by masterclass trainers.
2014
Berliner Ensemble, German Theatre Company by Helen Wigel and Bertolt Brecht. Attended acting workshop.
2013
Department of Drama and Performing Arts, Hong Kong Academy of Fine Arts. Conducted acting workshop for the performers of HK Academy of Fine Arts.
2024
University of Kerala. Keynote speaker at the Kerala International Festival of Theatre Schools. Presented a paper titled “Theatre Across Borders: Bangladesh and the World.”
2016
Indonesian Art Institute of Padangpanijang and Indonesian Institute of Arts. Collaboration and exchange of ideas on different traditional arts.
2018
University of Milan, Lombardy, Milan, Italy. Conducted acting workshops and improvisations with the students of the University of Minan.
2023
School of Theatre Arts, Mongolia State University of Culture and Art: Presented keynote paper “Problematizing representation of nomadic Bedey in Bengali Oral and Performance Text” considers different aspects of Bedey community as represented through their cultural expressions. The paper also considers how the Bedey community has been represented in medieval and in contemporary performance and dramatic texts. Such representations have been instrumental in the resurgence of cultural and academic interest in Bedey community. The paper also argues whether these medieval and contemporary performance and dramatic were able to provide authentic representation through an examination of a few major texts and performances. The presentation was accompanied by multimedia presentation which also showcased ethnographic research findings of MPhil and Masters students of University of Dhaka.
2022
State Muse Academy, Mongolia. Made presentation led discussion on preservation of indigenous cultural and ethnological knowledge by adoption of state policies through educational system, legal system, and economic planning.
2012
The Alexander Zelwerowitz National Academy of Dramatic Art, Warshaw, Poland. Directorial Workshop.
2017, 2018
Theatre Arts program, Department of Fine Arts, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines. Gave presentation on use of Shakespeare for storytelling among school students.
2019, 2018
Russian State Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS). This program involved exchange of academic and technical experts between Russian State Institute and Dhaka University. As part of this academic exchange, which involved Russian state directors, technicians and actors, cultural exchange through conduction of seminar, workshop, that resulted in a performance by the visiting Russian troupe at the Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka. During this academic exchange, different Russian schools of thought such as Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Michael Chekhov, were given prominence. In a reciprocal gesture, I was invited by the Russian State Institute to hold lectures and workshops in Moscow where the students, theoreticians, and cultural experts took part.
2019
Russian State Institute of Performing Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia. I developed improvisational performance on global political polarization, peace and governance issues, presentation of civic lives through monologue-based stories.
2018
LASALIE College of Theatre Arts, Singapore. The academic visit involved exchange of ideas on pedagogic issues with regard to research, academic engagement, and teaching and educational methodology. The discussion involved how to make the courses practice based and taking the learning beyond classroom and thus decentralize the educational system. Each participant discussed these issues from the perspective of respective socio-cultural background. The exchange involved symposium, discussion and sharing of curriculum in theatre and performance where participating theatre schools from several countries took part.
2024
Department of Drama, Korea National University of Arts, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The academic engagement involved symposium, discussion and sharing of curriculum in theatre and performance studies where universities and theatre schools from 25 countries took part. The symposium also involved discussion of signing of MOU, faculty exchange, and scholarship opportunities for students among participating institutions.
2015
Department of Drama, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Conducted acting workshops for the students of the university. Attended special performances organized on the occasion of my visit.
2000
Training and Skill Enhancement Fellowship, University of Wales along with Bangladesh Arts Centre London, United Kingdom.
2019, 2018
Georgetown University (Washington DC, USA). It was collaborative program that involved Dhaka University and Georgetown University where our students took part in extensive research, fieldwork, on-site community relation building at the Rohingya Camps located in Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf. The collaboration resulted performance, documentation, research paper, seminar, and exchange of experts between two universities.
2016, 2014
Grand Valley State University (USA). Exam, question set, evaluation, theoretical and practical evaluation, with respect to academic assessment. Recruitment to different academic discipline through exams, Recruitment, Examination and Evaluation system. Exchanged our views and presented our respective moules, methods and discussed modifications.
2023
Vietnam Institute of Performing Arts. Visited the Vietnamese traditional theatre organized by the state institute of performing arts. I gave presentation on the traditional performing arts, their history and its current practices.