Gender and Politics in the Middle East (19th and 20th Centuries)

This course focuses on the complex politics of gender, centering the experiences, lives, and histories of women as key subjects of the course. We will examine the roles of women in shifting dynamics of marriage, divorce, reproduction, motherhood, prostitution, education and labor force participation, urban life, and female criminality through a historical analysis. We will further investigate socio-political transformations from the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, emphasizing patterns of continuity and change. Finally, we will explore how gender both intersected with and influenced broader legal, political, and social dynamics during this pivotal period.