Spring 2023 History GU4801 section 001

GENDER AND WOMEN IN ISLAM: SOUTH ASIA AN

GENDER AND WOMEN IN ISLAM

Call Number 11254
Day & Time
Location
R 2:10pm-4:00pm
301M Fayerweather
Points 4
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required Instructor
Instructor Tahira S Khan
Type SEMINAR
Method of Instruction In-Person
Course Description This course will examine various roles that a religion can play in shaping its believers’ socio-political and religious identities on the basis of their natural/social differences i.e. sex and gender. Further, an attempt will be made to search for historical explanations through the lens of class, rural/urban economies and geo-ethnic diversities which have shaped gender relations and women’s status in various Muslim countries. The main focus of the course will be on Islam and its role in the articulation of gendered identities, the construction of their socio-religious images, and historical explanation of their roles, rights and status in the regions of South Asia and Middle East since 1900. The central argument of the course is that, for historical understanding of a set of beliefs and practices regarding gender relations and women’s status in any religious group, one needs to examine the historical context and socio-economic basis of that particular religion. By using the notion of gender and historical feminist discourses as tools of analysis, this course intends to understand and explain existing perceptions, misperceptions, myths and realities regarding gender relations and Muslim women’s situations in the distant and immediate past. This course begins with a historical materialist explanation of the religion of Islam and examines men - women’s roles, rights and responsibilities as described in the religious texts, interpretations, traditions and historical sources such as the Quran, Hadith, Sunnah and Sharia. It will further attempt to study these issues by situating them in histories of local and regional diversities (i.e. South Asia, Middle East). A historical perspective will facilitate students’ understanding of male and female Muslim scholars’ ventures to re/read and re/explain the Islamic texts in modern contexts of South Asia and the Middle East.
Web Site Vergil
Department History
Enrollment 14 students (20 max) as of 5:08PM Thursday, April 25, 2024
Subject History
Number GU4801
Section 001
Division Interfaculty
Campus Morningside
Note Add to waitlist on SSOL & await instructor permission
Section key 20231HIST4801W001