HIST 3570 - Women and Gender in the Middle East

5 credit hours
Debates over the status of Middle Eastern women have been at the center of political struggles for centuries, and they continue to be flash points for controversy in the present day. To begin unpacking these debates, this course will take an historical and thematic look at evolving roles of women in Arab, Turkish, and Persian societies, comparing rhetoric to some of the realities of women’s lives. The first part of the course will take a chronological survey from the pre-Islamic era to the twentieth century. The latter portion will focus on issues connected to nationalism, feminism, law and Islamism. Throughout, we will interrogate the politics of gender, the political and social forces that circumscribe Middle Eastern women’s lives, and the individuals who claim authority to speak for women. Special attention will be give to the ways in which the position of women has been debated within imperial, nationalist, and Islamist political programs and the role that women have played in shaping those debates. Cross-listed with INST 3570.