This course examines the creative, social, and political work of women in the Middle East and North Africa in the 21st century, in the wake of the "Arab Spring" uprisings and amid ongoing violence. While the protests that swept the MENA region between 2010 and 2015 primarily targeted government corruption and economic despair, women's rights and freedoms were also at the forefront in Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere. We will ask how debates around education, physical autonomy, and gendered violence are depicted and critiqued in novels, short stories, films, and graphic novels from the last two decades, and how creative work can itself be a form of resistance to oppression. Drawing primarily on fictional texts by women, we will engage with the social and political contexts from which they emerged. Students will also study secondary texts, social media, and news media from inside and outside the MENA region.
Counts Toward Major: Sociology/Anthropology
Counts Toward Concentrations: International Relations, Middle Eastern Studies
To find books for this class, please visit the St. Olaf Bookstore.