This course explores the social and cultural history of Middle Eastern societies through the lens of gender and sexuality. We will cultivate a critical knowledge of Orientalism, colonialism and global inequalities that is important for a careful and nuanced understanding of the different roles gender and sexuality have played in the representation of men and women living in Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, etc. We will begin by discussing the framing of categories of gender and sexuality within western cultural and social productions of knowledge about the ‘Orient’ and try to delineate the various perceptions that have characterized our images of an Middle Eastern/Arab/Muslim “other.” In an attempt to critically engage with and complicate these perceptions, we will read/view and discuss interdisciplinary scholarship and film, focusing our attention on historical approaches to Gender and Sexuality as well as Gender and Sexuality in the context of colonialism and anti-colonial resistance, Islam and gendered cultural politics and human rights discourses.

Course Requirements:

This upper-level course is reading intensive and assignments consist of short bi-weekly blogs, a short mid-term paper and a long final research paper.

Intended Audience:

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Class Format:

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