Contemporary Arab Feminist Imaginaries

This six week intensive course examines the dynamic landscape of contemporary Arab feminisms across the twentieth and twenty first centuries, with a particular focus on North Africa and the Levant. Centering the idea of contemporary Arab feminist imaginaries, the course explores how writers, artists, filmmakers, and digital activists envision alternative social worlds, challenge dominant gendered and political narratives, and craft new vocabularies of liberation. Students will trace how these imaginaries emerge in moments of political upheaval, cultural transformation, and artistic experimentation, and how they reshape debates around gender, sexuality, identity, embodiment, and power, both on the ground and online.

Class time will emphasize discussion, debate, and collaborative analysis, inviting students to engage closely with literary texts, visual art, film, and digital media as sites where feminist imaginaries take shape. A shared Miro board will function as a collective mapping space for tracing thematic connections, visualizing conceptual frameworks, and building a shared understanding of the region’s evolving feminist currents. Assessment will include short critical reflections, a group presentation, and a final project that encourages students to investigate a contemporary feminist figure, artistic work, digital campaign, or cultural debate through the lens of Arab feminist imaginaries.