GLC-290-N1 Women in the Islamic Tradition

Spring, 2013

St. Charles Community College

Spring Semester 16 Weeks

Critical Letter

Please read this letter, syllabus and all other materials carefully.  If you have any questions regarding the information, please contact the instructor.

The class is hosted on MOODLE at https://moodle.stchas.edu

A quick reference guide will be posted  for easy access.

Contact information:

Course Instructor:     Laura Al-Albani

Department of  Humanities

Phone:   314 720-2109

Office hours:

* If you wish to contact me on SKYPE , Please establish a SKYPE account and establish me (arabicteacher11) as a contact prior to the beginning of class. When you establish contact, be sure to indicate that you are student  from St. Charles Community College and enrolled in GLC-290.

Email:     lal-albani@stchas.edu

Course Description:

Women in the Islamic Tradition:  a three-credit hour, on-line, multi-media course,  will explore the controversial issue of women in Islam.  The course will examine women’s lives  in Islamic societies from the 7th century to the present in the Middle East and throughout the world. Topics will include an introduction to the beliefs, rituals and holy books of Islam, rights of women and the position of women under Islamic law, Muslim women’s movements in relation to radicalism, Islamic  fundamentalism, secularism, nationalism,  and socialism. Additionally, the course  will explore recent controversies over veiling, the banning of the niqab, honor killings, female genital mutilation and others. The format will be assigned readings and discussion. Course materials include several books, articles and films.

Course Objectives:

1. To identify theoretical frameworks enabling us to understand gender issues.
2. To become aware of issues of orientalist scholarship towards Islam in general and gender issues in particular.
3. To examine key foundational and authoritative texts for Muslim views on gender.
4. To investigate the role and status of women in Muslim societies today in order to identify the intersection between religiously derived codes and norms of behavior and expectation, economic realities, the role of the state, and social institutions.
5. To hear from Muslim women through the lens of literary  writings regarding how they articulate their own experiences and views, and how they name the challenges they face.
6. To engage a variety of Muslim feminist/woman-centered perspectives in order to examine how each of these activists addresses the issue of gender equality.
7. To study key “hot button” issues - including the veil, honor killings, female genital mutilation, the mahram system – in order to reveal the complexities of the relationship between religion, culture, social organization, economic development and state intervention.
8. To examine instances of how change is effected through development efforts.

Required Texts:

Katherine Bullock.  Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil: Challenging Historical and Modern Stereotypes.  The International Institute of Islamic Thought. ISBN# 1-56564-287-2

Isobel Coleman.   Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East.   Random House Publishing Group, New York, 2010.  ISBN#978-1-4000-6695-7

John Esposito.   Women in Muslim family Law. Second Edition.   Syracuse University Press, New York, 2001. ISBN#0-8156-2908-7

Wiebke Walther.   Women in Islam: From Medieval to Modern Times.  Marcus Wiener Publishers.  Princeton, New Jersey , 1995.  ISBN#1-55876-053-9

Assignment:

Due April 29, 2013

• Write a five to seven page paper on an issue facing contemporary Muslim women.
• Examples of topics you might consider include:
• The French ban on niqab
• Female genital mutilation
• Significance of the veil in different societies
• Honor killings
• Lack of educational alternatives
• Lack of employment opportunities
• The Mahram system