Women/Gender in Middle East

Catalog description

This course is an overview of themes related to gender and women throughout the history of the Middle East, from the rise of Islam to the present. The course will cover the place and role of gender relations and women in religion, state, and society. Specific topics include the place of women in Islamic foundational texts, the shaping of gender relations in early Islamic society and jurisprudence, the role of women and family in Islamic empires, as well as the effect of imperialism on families and societies of the Middle East. Starting with the nineteenth century, we will explore the question of gender through the themes of migration, modernization, nationalism, sexuality, feminism, state formation, decolonization, the rise of political Islam, the "global war on terror", and finally the Arab Uprisings. Cross-listed with WS-307.