Course content
Female reformers and revolutionaries were at the forefront of many of the 20th and early 21st centuries’ historic socio-political and religious movements across the Global South. In the MENA region, as members of diverse classes, families, and ethnic communities, many worked within the tenets of Islam in multiple ways to construct religious identity and work towards achieving and demanding civil and political rights. Yet the myriad theoretical and popular discourses underpinning emergent and longstanding women’s movements within revolutionary contexts are frequently overlooked. Moreover, representations of Muslim women too often rely on essentialist, ahistorical, static, victim-centered, and Orientalist descriptions and analyses. As a result, shades of difference in interpretation, ideology, practice, and culture are minimized. This course situates MENA women as complex, multidimensional actors engaged in knowledge production and political and feminist struggles. In this seminar, we will read key texts and analyses from scholars and activists writing on religion, gender, sexuality, family planning, and women’s status in the MENA region and Global South. The following questions will emerge in our discussions: “When is a hejab just a hejab?,” “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?,” and “What is an ‘Islamic Feminist’ and Should We Care?” Readings include memoirs, editorials, ethnographies, and political treatises, as well as historical scholarship from North Africa, the Gulf, the Levant, and Southeast Asia.
Learning outcome
The course is based on the reading, analysis and discussion of primarily academic sources in English. You will:
- Be introduced to a variety of empirical realities and conditions of women’s lives across the MENA region
- Develop an interdisciplinary and comparative understanding of gender and sexuality in MENA region
- Deepen historical and geographical knowledge of MENA region
- Develop stronger analytical and reading skills when studying diverse sources and discourses
- Develop stronger critical analysis skills for understanding current social and political debates concerning gender and sexuality across MENA region
- Familiarize yourself with major texts and debates circulating in postcolonial, gender and women’s studies
- Honing reading, writing, and oral communication skills through essay writing and class presentations