Women in the Middle East, 7th-20th C.: Patriarchal Visions, Revolutionary Voices

This course provides an historical approach to women’s lives, status, and perceptions. It focuses on women in the Middle East, from the seventh century emergence of Islam to the twentieth century revolutions and struggle for new identities. It examines the contested roles of women in society and the ways women were culturally crafted. In particular, we will discuss the modes by which women’s lives were narrated (by themselves and others); women’s use of the “patriarchal bargain” to deal with the shift from so-called “traditional” to so-called “modern” culture; and the encounter between “Eastern” and “Western” societies.