2024/2025

Muslim Women in the Contemporary Middle East, and North Africa (MENA)

Type: Optional course (faculty)

Delivered by: Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies

When: 4 module

Open to: students of one campus

Instructors: Mozhgan Samadi

Language: English

ECTS credits: 3

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course is devoted to the analysis of family and social status of Muslim women in the modern Middle East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. The course is in English and available for all interested MA students during both the first and second semester of 2023-24. Participation in this course does not require special prerequisites. During this course, students are introduced to the use of a range of the most up-to-date international sources related to the study of women in the modern Middle East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. The course starts with an academic survey of the cultures in the region, and Islam as the dominant religion of the region . It then continues with identifying interactions and contradictions between patriarchy and Islam in this region, as the background material of the course. Thereafter, the course studies various dimensions of Muslim women's status in different fields of social life, including economy, politics, culture and art. Lectures and seminars are held in one 2-hour session every two weeks. The maximum number of students is 40. The number of credits is 4. The assessment method includes i) activeness in seminars (3 of 10 marks), ii) seminar oral presentation (3 of 10 marks), iii) oral exam at the end of the semester (4 of 10 marks).