2020-21 Academic Catalog

This course investigates how gender identities and relationships between “men” and “women” have been articulated, constructed, and refashioned throughout the Middle East. Starting with problematizing fixed notions of gender and sexuality, we map prominent attitudes through visiting a diverse array of sources from the Qur’an, Sunna, and legal documents to historical and anthropological case studies, literature, and film from across the region. Exploring notions of femininity and masculinity, as well as attitudes towards homosexuality and transgendered populations, we witness their implications in case studies and stories, from a divorce court in Iran to a vampiric dystopia.