Cross listed with WGST 1005

Are you interested in embarking on a journey through the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) -- delving into cultures, traditions, and societal norms via literature? Have you ever questioned the accuracy of portrayals of gender dynamics and women from these regions on Western social media platforms? Are you curious about how these nations perceive gender and sexuality and represent them in their literature? If you find any of these questions interesting, this course is for you!

The course is designed to give students the opportunity to explore examples of gender dynamics across some MENA countries through the lenses of literature written by authors from Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt. Throughout the course, we will examine the representations of gender through the frameworks of human rights, social justice, religion, and law. Additionally, we will navigate patterns of resistance that challenge, subvert, or undermine the prevailing gender narratives and normative sexual orientations. Our course materials include a selection of literary works such as Azadeh Moaveni's Lipstick Jihad (2005), Rajaa Alsanea's Girls of Riyadh (2008), and Elif Shafak's 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (2019), alongside scholarly readings on MENA feminism.