POLITICS OF GENDER AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: Sophomore standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Social & Behavioral Science Breadth - Social Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Spring 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Develop a concrete understanding of the history and politics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the ways they shape gender power relations across the region. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Apply comparative politics frameworks and feminist theories toward understanding patterns of female political participation and better understand current events and complexities of the region’s politics and governance structures. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Sharpen critical and analytical skills through exposure to different, even contradictory, points of views and contemporary debates relating to the role of women in shaping MENA’s politics post-Arab uprisings. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Develop and present ideas and arguments to audience with diverse interests and backgrounds. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Apply pertinent theoretical and empirical evidence necessary to make critical and analytical arguments about gender and politics in comparative perspective. Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Develop a concrete understanding of the history and politics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the ways they shape gender power relations across the region. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Apply comparative politics frameworks and feminist theories toward understanding patterns of female political participation and better understand current events and complexities of the region’s politics and governance structures. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Sharpen critical and analytical skills through exposure to different, even contradictory, points of views and contemporary debates relating to the role of women in shaping MENA’s politics post-Arab uprisings. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Develop and present ideas and arguments to audience with diverse interests and backgrounds. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Apply pertinent theoretical and empirical evidence necessary to make critical and analytical arguments about gender and politics in comparative perspective. Audience: Graduate