Gender in the Arab and Middle Eastern City

What are the components of gendered experience in the city, and how are these shaped by history and culture? How do meanings attributed to Islam and the Middle East obscure the specificity of women¿s and men¿s lives in Muslim-majority cities? This course explores gender norms and gendered experience in the major cities of Arab-majority countries, Iran and Turkey. Assigned historical and sociological readings contextualize feminism in these countries. Established and recent anthropological publications address modernity, mobility, reproduction, consumption, and social movements within urban contexts. Students will engage with some of the key figures shaping debates about gender, class, and Islam in countries of the region typically referenced as North Africa and the Middle East (MENA). They will also evaluate regional media addressing concerns about gender in light of the historical content of the course and related political concepts.