Women in Islam

This course will explore Muslim women's religious roles, participation, and practices throughout the history of Islam and across various cultural contexts. Attention will be paid to the diversity of interpretations concerning Islamic textual prescriptions for women as well as legal discussions of women’s participation in religious and social life, and Muslims women's own articulations of feminism. We will also be attentive to the ways that Muslim women negotiate their everyday and religious lives and how this is intimately related to social location, economic situations, and shifting political realities. Students will develop a final project of their own choosing that also addresses the ethical issues of studying and writing about unfamiliar traditions both within and beyond our religious or cultural contexts.