Studies in English: Women Rewrite Faith, Belonging & Identity Across Borders

English 2000
Section 06
Semester
Fall
Year
2025
Zahraa Habeeb
Tuesday
Thursday
2:00-3:15pm
Course Description

Cross listed with WGST 2004

What happens when women take control of their narratives and redefine faith, home, and identity on their own terms—beyond the boundaries set for them? This course explores how such narratives shape experiences of migration, belonging, and cross-cultural identity through the works of writers from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.

Readings include Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, a memoir about navigating cultural and religious identity as a Muslim woman in the West, and It Is Not About the Burqa, a bold and insightful collection of first-person narratives addressing topics of race, faith, cultural expectations, and the struggles of navigating multiple identities.

Together, we’ll examine how these texts challenge stereotypes and highlight the ways in which religion, tradition, and personal experience shape identity in a globalized world.