Islamic Sexualities

In this course we examine gender and sexuality in a range Muslim cultures past and present, as well the ways in which Islam is imagined (in and against Orientalist scholarship) in relationship to gender and sexuality. In addition to topics such as Islamic law, the representation of women in the Quran, and gender and family issues in the life of the Prophet Muhammad, we will also explore scholarship on how constructions of gender and sexuality shape the representation of Islam and Muslims in a variety of contexts. Students will learn to engage with and complicate key terms including "masculinity," "cultural difference," "women's and LGBT rights," and "modernity/civilization" that are widely, and often uncritically, deployed in the study of Islamic life and culture.