Diversity of Muslim Women’s Experiences
Spring 2012
Professor Mitra K. Shavarini
Class sessions: Mon, Wed, Thrs. 11 – 11:50am
Office Hours (Rabb 107): Mon & Wed 12:00-1:00
Email:
OVERVIEW
This course will offer a broad introduction to the intricate and multidimensional nature of women’s experiences in the “Muslim world.” As both a cultural and religious element in major societies throughout Africa, Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia, and more recently, communities in Europe and North America, our understanding of Islam as it relates to the lives of women has become increasingly imperative. The post 9/11 context of globalization, instant communication, and mass media misrepresentation, demands responsible global citizens who must be informed about each others cultures, beliefs, traditions, and histories.
By exposing students to the institutions, beliefs and practices that characterize the experiences of women in this vast region, this course breaks the prevailing perception that Muslim women’s lives are a subservient monolithic bloc. Instead, it attempts to provide students with an opportunity to learn about the diversity and complexity of Islam (and its expressions) in different contexts through discussions concerning the lives of its women.
To grapple with the complexity of women’s lives within this wide expanse requires an approach that is at once culturally embedded and multiregional in scope. This means that this course is comparative but sensitive to local particularities.
I cover the topic of women’s experiences through two avenues: 1) regions and 2) themes. Regions include: Africa, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, South & Southeast Asia, Europe and North American communities. Themes will include: veiling, coming-of-age, female genital cutting, labor market participation, education, as well as artistic and literary expressions, among others. Given the events of “Arab Spring,” I now include a segment on Muslim women’s political agency.
Class meetings will be organized in a conference format. By this I mean it’s heavily weighed by an exchange of views. Student discussion is paramount. While I will devote a portion of our class time to lecture, the major portion of time will provide an opportunity to develop your understanding of the topic through discussion and debate.
I have tried to make this topic accessible, digestible, and relevant. Beyond academic literature, I employ a variety of mediums to enrich your understanding of Muslim women’s lives. For instance, readings are complemented with films, current events/mainstream media, theatrical transcripts, and other literary works.
Required Books*:
· Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faïza Guène
· Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
· Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
· Iran Awakening by Shireen Ebadi
*These books are on reserve at the library. Also available on Amazon.
Assignments
Reaction/reflection papers: 30% There will be seven (7) reaction papers due this semester. These are 2 page (max. 500 words) papers in which you candidly react to the material that we are covering. It’s imperative that you make connections between class discussions and readings, shedding light on the material in a meaningful way. This is to say: don’t just regurgitate the material back and/or use long quotes to say what you need to say. Assessment for these papers shall be: √-, √, or √+
Group project/presentation: “Muslim women and Representation.” This is a collaborative effort that is worth 30% of the final grade. This will require group work outside of this class. You must be able to communicate your schedule and be responsible for showing up for these meetings. Groups will be assigned once enrollment is finalized. Due date: March 3-6.
Guidelines for the final paper will be distributed during the semester. It will count for 20% of the final grade. DUE ON FINAL DAY OF CLASS.
Class participation and attendance count as 20% of the final grade. Though I sometimes lecture, this class is primarily designed as a discussion-based course. In essence this means that it is a shared learning experience that entails specific obligations. Your primary obligation is social in nature: your commitment is to the class and for making it work well. You must come to class having completed and then puzzled over the assigned reading or viewing; you must come to class prepared to discuss the literary texts, to share your ideas with the class, and to move discussions forward in meaningful ways; and you must come to class not only willing but eager to hear what others have to say and to respond to it in a collegial fashion.
Because participation constitutes a substantial portion of your grade, attendance is fundamental! Note that there are no excused absences in this course with the possible exception of a documented personal or medical emergency. Since you chose to enroll in this course— which meets three times weekly, 11:00am-11:50am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays —I presume that the schedule is a convenient one for you. Therefore, any absence that cannot be documented as being caused by a medical or personal emergency will result in a lower final course grade; each absence lowers the attendance grade by one “notch” (from A- to B+). Moreover, 3 tardiness equals one absence.
Course Outline
TOPIC / DATE / CLASS DISCUSSIONPART I: PRELIMINARY TOPICS & BROAD ISSUES
Introduction to course / Monday
1/13 / Meet & greet; stats; map
Intro continued / Wedn. 1/15 / Before next class:
READ “Mesopotamia” AND “Discourse of the Veil.” Leila Ahmad. In Women and Gender in Islam.
Veil / Thursday
1/16 / A social science experiment: donning the veil.
Before next class:
READ “Cultural Diversity within Islam: Veils and Laws in Tunisia” M.M. Charrad.
AND
READ “The Muslim women's movement is discovering its roots in Islam, not in imitating Western feminists.” Elizabeth Warnock Fernea
AND
WATCH “They Call Me Muslim” a film by Diana Ferrero
Monday
1/20 / Discussion of readings and film.
DUE: Reaction Paper #1 – Veiling
Wedn.
1/22 / To veil or not to veil … a debate.
Before next class:
READ “Introduction” Stories from the Thousand and One Nights
Fairy Tales / Thursday
1/23 / Discussion of Arabian Nights
PART II: STAGES OF LIFE
Coming of Age / Monday
1/27 / Coming-of-Age (discussion of hand-out)
Before next class:
READ Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow
Wedn.
1/29 / Discussion of Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow
Before next class:
WATCH “The Day I Became a Woman”
AND
READ “Between Two Worlds: For Young Muslim Women, Coming of Age in New York is a Complex Journey.” Tara Bahrampour. NY Times Online
Thrs.
1/30 / Discussion of film, “The Day I Became a Woman”
DUE: Reaction Paper #2 – Coming-of-Age
Before next class:
READ “When Modernity Confronts Traditional Practices: Female Genital Cutting in Northeast Africa.” Noor Kassamali
Female Genital Cutting / Monday
2/3 / Female Genital Cutting (discussion of hand-out)
Before next class:
READ “Rites & Wrongs: An Insider/Outsider Reflects on Power and Excision” by Fuambai Ahmadu pp. 283-310
OR
READ “Ain’t I a Woman Too? Challenging Myths of Sexual Dysfunction in Circumcised Women” by Fuambai Ahmadu pp 278-295.
LISTEN - NPR Broadcast- French Activists on FGM
Wedn
2/5 / Veiled Monologues
Before next class:
WATCH “Moolaade”
Thrs.
2/6 / **International Day for the Eradication of FGC**
Discussion of Moolaade
Everywoman piece on UN’s actions to eliminate FGC
DUE: Reaction Paper #3 - FGC
Before next class:
“Whom No Man Shall Have Deflowered Before Them.” G. Brooks. In Nine Parts of Desire.
An Islamic Viewpoint to Brooks’ Nine Parts of Desire.
Virginity / Monday
2/10 / Discussion of Geraldine Brooks’ chapter
Virginity (discussion of hand-out)
Before next class:
“Virginity as a regulatory practice of gender” Lama Abu-Odeh
Wedn.
2/12 / Discussion of Abu-Odeh article
READ “In Europe, Debate Over Islam & Virginity” NYTimes
READ “Muslim Women in France Regain Virginity in Clinics” – Reuters
Thrs. 2/13 / Discussion of regaining one’s virginity
Veiled Monologues
WINTER BREAK
2/17-2/21
Thrs. Feb. 27 / Performance: Mali musicians, accompanied by residency curator and speaker, ethnomusicologist Dr. Lucy Duran. This residency is part of our long-standing partnership with the Aga Khan Music Initiative.
Da Kali's music is 100% from the heart of a West African Muslim culture that has been established there for centuries, and is infused with prayers and Muslim philosophy but in a very local way.” Lucy Durán, ethnomusicologist and residency curator.
PRESENTATIONS WEEK
Monday 3/3, Wedn 3/5 AND Thrs 3/6
Before 3/5 class:
READ “Temporary Marriage: an Islamic Discourse on Female Sexuality in Iran.” S. Haeri. In In the Eye of the Storm: Women in Post-Revolutionary Iran.
Courtship / Monday 3/10 / Discuss Haeri’s piece on temporary marriage
Before next class:
“Here Come the Brides.” G. Brooks. In Nine Parts of Desire.
Marriage Practices / Wednesday
3/12 / Discuss Brooks’ piece
Frontline: Bride Stealing in Kyrgyzstan
Before next class:
“Classic Muslim Family Law” John Esposito
“Patriarchy in Transition” Valentine Moghadam
Marriage / Thrs. 3/13 / Discuss Esposito and Moghadam articles
Before next class:
“Culture of Honor, Culture of Change: A Feminist Analysis of Honor Killings in Rural Turkey.”
Family Relations/Honor / Monday
3/17 / Discussion of Marriage/Honor
DUE: Reaction Paper #4- Virginity/Family/Marriage
Before next class:
“Crimes of Honor and the Construction of Gender in Arab Societies” Abu-Odeh.
AND –
“Is a Woman Only Worth Her Children?” BBC News piece
Wednesday 3/19 / Discussion of Honor continued …
PART III: ISSUES & DEBATES
Converting to Islam / Thrs.
3/20 / “Make me a Muslim” – a BBC documentary
Before next class:
“Western Ethnocentrism and Perceptions of the Harem.” Leila Ahmed, Feminist Studies.
Female Space / Monday
3/24 / Discussion of female space in Muslim female cultures
Before next class:
WATCH “Jihad for Love”
Islam & Homosexuality / Wedn.
3/26 / Discuss Jihad for Love
DUE: Reaction Paper #5 -Homosexuality
Before next class:
READ - “The Social (and Economic) Implications of Being an Educated Iranian Woman.” M.K. Shavarini
AND
READ – AAUW Case (handout)
Education / Thrs. 3/27 / Debate the AAUW case
Before next class:
READ Newspaper article: “Malala Yousfzai speaks about surviving being shot in head by Taliban”
Education (continued) / Monday 3/31 / We will discuss Malala’s impact on Muslim women’s education
Before next class:
“Purdah in Pakistan: Seclusion and Modern Occupations for Women” in In Separate Worlds 1982 pp. 190-216.
AND-
READ “Risky Business.” G. Brooks. Nine Parts of Desire.
Labor Market / Wedn.
4/2 / Discussion of women and the labor market/economy
Before next class:
READ Infidel
Activism / Thrs.
4/3 / Discuss Infidel
Submission
Before next class:
READ – Reuters’ article – “Analysis: Arab Spring nations backtrack on women’s rights, polls say.”
Activism (continued) / Monday
4/7 / Discussion of Arab Spring
DUE: Reaction Paper #6- Muslim Women & Political Activism
Before next class:
READ “Persepolis”
PART IV: COUNTRIES & REGIONS
Iran / Wedn.
4/9 / Discuss “Persepolis”
Before next class:
WATCH “OUR TIMES”
Thrs.
4/10 / Discuss “Our Times”
DUE: Reaction Paper #7 - Persepolis
Before next class:
READ “Iran Awakening”
Monday
4/14 / Discuss “Iran Awakening”
Before next class (after Spring Break):
NPR series: “Exploring the Status of Muslim Women in Europe.” (8 total segments)
4/15-4/21 / SPRING BREAK
Muslims in Europe / Wedn.
4/23 / Veiled Monologues
In-class: “Make me a Muslim” Discussion of women converting to Islam in Europe
Before next class:
READ “Between Lenin and Allah: Women & Ideology in Tajikistan.” S. Tadjbakhsh. In Diversity within Unity.
SKIM Excerpt from Being Muslim the Bosnian Way by Tone Bringa
WATCH “We Are All Neighbors” – British documentary
Soviet and Bosnian Muslims / Thrs.
4/24 / Discuss Muslims and communism
Before next class:
Toni Morrison’s letter to a Sudanese woman: “Dignity & Depravity”
“Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” L. Abu-Lughod. In American Anthropologist (2002).
PART V: ENDINGS & BEGINNINGS
Reflections / Monday
4/28 / Letters
Discuss Abu-Lughod’s article
DUE: Final Papers