Ethnographies of the Muslim Middle East

An introduction to ethnographic studies of Middle East, focus on: religion, language, modernity, gender, and political culture. Students will engage in critical examination which anthropologists sought to capture Middle Eastern life, and problems that have pervaded anthropological representation, methodologically and theoretically. You will learn, through the ways anthropologists approach the peoples, ideas, and cultures of the region in ways that complement and contradict the knowledge production of other disciplines, the processes we come to understand cultural difference, and ways this encounter sheds light on our selves and practices. Previous course in Anthropology/ Middle East studies is suggested. Enrollment limited to 25.