Course Description, Objectives, and Requirements
Weekly Lectures
Days: TBA
Time: TBA
Location: TBA
Course Description
This course utilizes gender as a unit of analysis in the study of Middle East history. As one of the more robust subfields in Middle East history, our approach will be, by necessity, a survey in nature. The idea is to complicate our understanding of the operation of gender categories in political, economic, social, and cultural dynamics of Middle Eastern states and societies across historical periods. Key in this respect is to appreciate what the historical method can help us understand about gender dynamics in the Middle East, and how gender can help us better understand historical processes in the Middle East.
In order to think critically about women, gender, and sexuality in Middle East history, we will examine a number of historical contexts, geographic areas, and political systems. The first five weeks of the course will offer an introduction to the theoretical frameworks and empirical bases that inform the course. These first five weeks will thus feature explorations of the pre-modern history of women, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East, focusing on the establishment of the first Muslim polity, the transitions into and throughout the Umayyad and Abbasid (medieval) empires, and the eventual consolidation of the early modern Ottoman and Persian empires. The remainder of the course will explore the varied gender and sexuality components of the experience of modernity. Here, the goal is to complicate our understanding of the relationship between gender, sexuality, history, and modernity, exploring that relationship across a number of geographic regions, political systems, social groups, and feminist issues. Related topics include state formation, colonial rule, nationalist struggles, economic development, and feminist movements.
The course is structured to offer three lines of inquiry: (1) What are the varied levels upon which gender as a category of practice operates in specific historical contexts; (2) How are changes in the operation of gender categories and relationships simultaneously reflective and constitutive of other categories of thought and practice; (3) In what sense does this complex gender history offer a basis for a sustained critique of essentialist, reductionist, or teleological understandings of the Middle East and North Africa?
Course Objectives
Course Requirements
This course is designed as an upper-division undergraduate survey, which means that students’ success and that of the course will depend on their individual and collective commitment to the following:
Extra Credit: Being at an institution such as Ohio University presents students with the opportunity to attend a variety of events that serve to supplement the in-class educational experience. As such, I will be offering the opportunity to earn extra credit toward your final course grade by attending a select number of pre-identified events during the semester. Credit for attending such events is earned only upon the submission of a one-page synopsis of the event indicating: (1) the logistics and nature of the event; (2) a summary of the information presented; (3) a reflection on the student's sense of the event in terms of value added, interest level, and such matters. Additional information on which events qualify for extra credit and what precisely the one-page synopsis should address will be forthcoming as the semester commences. Student must attend at least two events and write synopses for each of them in order to earn extra credit, which will be reflected in the student's overall course grade.
Graduate Studies: *Graduate students interested in enrolling in this course at the graduate level need to register for History 6930 (with Dr. Abu-Rish). In addition to the above-listed course requirements and required reading schedule, graduate students will be expected to complete all readings designated as "supplemental" as well as substitute the final examination with a 10-15-page final paper on a topic to be determined in consultation with the course instructor.
Academic Integrity: In satisfying the above requirements, all students are expected to follow the University’s code of academic integrity. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are unclear on what academic integrity means or have questions about a particular issue. Any and all violations of this code will result in an automatic "F" on the assignment in question and a referral to the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility.
Services for Students with Difference: If you have a learning, physical, psychological disability for which you are or may be requesting reasonable academic adjustments, you are encouraged to privately alert me as soon as possible so we can make all appropriate arrangements. Students requesting accommodation based on the impact of a disability must provide written documentation from the Office of Student Accessibility Services. If the student has not yet registered with the Office of Student Accessibility Services, they are encouraged to do as soon as possible.
Days: TBA
Time: TBA
Location: TBA
Course Description
This course utilizes gender as a unit of analysis in the study of Middle East history. As one of the more robust subfields in Middle East history, our approach will be, by necessity, a survey in nature. The idea is to complicate our understanding of the operation of gender categories in political, economic, social, and cultural dynamics of Middle Eastern states and societies across historical periods. Key in this respect is to appreciate what the historical method can help us understand about gender dynamics in the Middle East, and how gender can help us better understand historical processes in the Middle East.
In order to think critically about women, gender, and sexuality in Middle East history, we will examine a number of historical contexts, geographic areas, and political systems. The first five weeks of the course will offer an introduction to the theoretical frameworks and empirical bases that inform the course. These first five weeks will thus feature explorations of the pre-modern history of women, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East, focusing on the establishment of the first Muslim polity, the transitions into and throughout the Umayyad and Abbasid (medieval) empires, and the eventual consolidation of the early modern Ottoman and Persian empires. The remainder of the course will explore the varied gender and sexuality components of the experience of modernity. Here, the goal is to complicate our understanding of the relationship between gender, sexuality, history, and modernity, exploring that relationship across a number of geographic regions, political systems, social groups, and feminist issues. Related topics include state formation, colonial rule, nationalist struggles, economic development, and feminist movements.
The course is structured to offer three lines of inquiry: (1) What are the varied levels upon which gender as a category of practice operates in specific historical contexts; (2) How are changes in the operation of gender categories and relationships simultaneously reflective and constitutive of other categories of thought and practice; (3) In what sense does this complex gender history offer a basis for a sustained critique of essentialist, reductionist, or teleological understandings of the Middle East and North Africa?
Course Objectives
- Comprehend historical narratives, historiographical debates, and historical methodologies in the study of gender in the Middle East.
- Understand the difference between the categories of sex, gender, and sexuality, as well as their historical construction.
- Identify major nodal points through which the category of gender is operationalized Middle East history.
- Deepen and complicate, through gender analysis, the trajectory of modern Middle East history.
- Develop tools for critical knowledge consumption, including reading notes, discussion questions, and analytic papers.
Course Requirements
This course is designed as an upper-division undergraduate survey, which means that students’ success and that of the course will depend on their individual and collective commitment to the following:
- Lecture Attendance (5%): Students are expected to attend lectures, where attendance will be taken. More than five unexcused absences will result in an automatic zero in both your attendance and discussion grades. If you need to miss class, it is your responsibility to notify the instructor ahead of time and explain the reason for your absence. If an emergency occurred and you could not make it to class, it is your responsibility to communicate with the instructor in a timely fashion to explain your absence. Merely communicating with the instructor does not qualify as an excused absence.
- Discussion (15%): Students will be required to actively participate in designated discussion sessions so as to collectively grapple with some of the more complex and pertinent issues related to gender in both the historical and contemporary Middle East. A discussion grade is by its nature subjective. However, active participation can be demonstrated by responding to the professor's in-class prompts, asking substantive questions of the professor or other students, and reflecting on the content or nature of an ongoing in-class discussion. In addition, a key component of discussion participation will be the the posting of response to instructor-provided discussion questions via the course blog. Additional details on this component of the course requirement will be discussed during the first day of class.
- Map Quizzes (10%): Students will be required to prepare for and pass two map quizzes, each dealing with a particular historical juncture in Middle East history. Students will be tested on their knowledge of the different states, major cities, large bodies of water, and strategic points of the Middle East. The specific dates of these quizzes are indicated on the reading and assignment schedule.
- Midterm Examination (25%): Students are required to sit for and pass an in-class midterm examination during the sixth week of the term. The exam will cover all lecture and reading material of the first five weeks. Therefore, students are advised to be diligent about keeping up with the reading and lectures (via effective note taking) throughout the course. Detailed midterm guidelines will be provided exactly one week before the examination.
- Paper (20%): Students are expected to submit a six-page paper at the beginning of class during the twelfth week of the term. No outside readings will be required or allowed for this paper. The paper will overwhelming be based on the novel students have selected to read as part of the course requirement, though the assignment will ask students to connect particular themes from the novel to readings and lectures covered as part of the course. A detailed prompt as well as writing guidelines will be provided exactly one week before the paper is due.
- Final Exam (25%): Students are required to sit for and pass a final exam in order to complete all course requirements. The exam will cover all material since the midterm examination and will take place according to the Registrar’s final examination schedule. The exam will be comprised of two parts: identifications and short essay questions.
Extra Credit: Being at an institution such as Ohio University presents students with the opportunity to attend a variety of events that serve to supplement the in-class educational experience. As such, I will be offering the opportunity to earn extra credit toward your final course grade by attending a select number of pre-identified events during the semester. Credit for attending such events is earned only upon the submission of a one-page synopsis of the event indicating: (1) the logistics and nature of the event; (2) a summary of the information presented; (3) a reflection on the student's sense of the event in terms of value added, interest level, and such matters. Additional information on which events qualify for extra credit and what precisely the one-page synopsis should address will be forthcoming as the semester commences. Student must attend at least two events and write synopses for each of them in order to earn extra credit, which will be reflected in the student's overall course grade.
Graduate Studies: *Graduate students interested in enrolling in this course at the graduate level need to register for History 6930 (with Dr. Abu-Rish). In addition to the above-listed course requirements and required reading schedule, graduate students will be expected to complete all readings designated as "supplemental" as well as substitute the final examination with a 10-15-page final paper on a topic to be determined in consultation with the course instructor.
Academic Integrity: In satisfying the above requirements, all students are expected to follow the University’s code of academic integrity. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are unclear on what academic integrity means or have questions about a particular issue. Any and all violations of this code will result in an automatic "F" on the assignment in question and a referral to the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility.
Services for Students with Difference: If you have a learning, physical, psychological disability for which you are or may be requesting reasonable academic adjustments, you are encouraged to privately alert me as soon as possible so we can make all appropriate arrangements. Students requesting accommodation based on the impact of a disability must provide written documentation from the Office of Student Accessibility Services. If the student has not yet registered with the Office of Student Accessibility Services, they are encouraged to do as soon as possible.