Gender/Culture/Identity:MENA

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

The aim of this course is to offer an overview of the key issues in the study of gender in the Middle East. It will provide a gendered understanding of prevailing discourses, ideologies, social practices and trends for those students interested in Middle East societies, cultures and politics. The course is interdisciplinary in scope, readings and theoretical underpinnings ranging from critical cultural studies to history, feminist theories, political science and media studies. We will pay particular attention not only to gender, but also to how gender is nuanced differently through the lenses of ethnicity, nationality, culture, class, religion and sexuality. The course will address issues of Representations of Gender in the Middle East, Women and Gender in Islam, Gender and Citizenship in the Middle East, Social Relations and Identity Constructions, Gender & Sexuality in the Middle East, Exploring Masculinities in the Middle East, Gender and Globalization in the Middle East, Feminism & Women’s Movements, and Gendering Violence and Peace in the Middle East.