First-Year Writing Seminar - Non-Western History (103-8-24)

Topic

Islam and Gender in the Modern World

Instructors

Ashish Koul
847/467-3879
Harris 212

Meeting Info

Allison Residential Comm 1021: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

‘Islam' is often believed to be a religion which justifies oppression of women and regulation of their public lives in theological terms. In this seminar, we will learn about various intellectual movements that have shaped the interaction of religion and gender in Muslim societies from the nineteenth century to the present. To contextualize our understanding of these intellectual currents, we will focus on South Asia—home to one of the world's largest Muslim populations today—as a site for examining the historical evolution of Islamic perspectives on gender issues. This seminar is an opportunity to reflect on the historical intersections among Islam, modernity, and colonialism, using South Asia as a regional site and gender as an analytical category.
The course is divided into two unequal parts. Part One focuses on ideological responses to historical transformations in various parts of the Muslim world. Part Two shifts to South Asia and examines how these ideas of change manifested in this region. Based on texts composed by Muslim women and Muslim male theologians, we will consider the following issues: reformist education, marriage and divorce, gender segregation, property ownership, and Muslim women's political participation. In analyzing these questions, we will elucidate the complexity of Islamic intellectual traditions and emphasize their historical dynamism, especially in colonial and post-colonial contexts. Simultaneously, we will discover the ways in which Muslim women have become agents of their own change while compromising with and negotiating multiple forms of social authority in Muslim societies.

Learning Objectives

In this course, students will learn to 1. read and summarize scholarly arguments 2. analyze primary sources and think historically 3. refine their writing skills and produce cogent, coherent essays 4. reflect on the interaction of religious traditions with social practices and political imperatives

Evaluation Method

3 papers and class participation

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.