Doors open at 6:30 pm. Free & Open to the Public. After Alok's keynote address, there will be a short 15 minute Q&A followed by a book signing of Alok's book, Beyond the Gender Binary in the Arts and Sciences Auditorium. For accessibility accommodations & other questions, please contact shepardsymposium@gmail.com.

ALOK (they/them) is an internationally acclaimed author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. As a mixed-media artist their work explores themes of trauma, belonging, and the human condition. They are the author of Femme in Public (2017), Beyond the Gender Binary (2020), and Your Wound/My Garden (2021). They are the creator of #DeGenderFashion: a movement to degender fashion and beauty industries and have been honored as one of HuffPo’s Culture Shifters, NBC’s Pride 50, and Business Insider’s Doers. Over the past decade they have toured in more than 40 countries, most recently headlining the Vancouver Just for Laughs Comedy Festival and selling out their runs at the Soho Theatre in London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They are currently on a world tour of their new show which has been described as "provocative and powerful" (Chortle), a "Potent combination of comedy and poetry" (The Scotsman), and a "Jaw-dropping celestial event" (To Do List London). On screen, they will make their feature film debut in Netflix’s Absolute Dominion. On television, they have appeared on Netflix’s Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness and The Trans List.