Religious Studies 111. Women s Literature and Politics in the Muslim Middle East: Modern Iran Spring T-TH 12:30-1:45 New Room: HSSB 4041

Transcription

1 Religious Studies 111 Women s Literature and Politics in the Muslim Middle East: Modern Iran Spring 2011 T-TH 12:30-1:45 New Room: HSSB 4041 PROFESSOR JANET AFARY Office: HSSB 3047 Office Hours: TTH: 10:45-11:30 afary@religion.ucsb.edu Course Description This course will examine major turning points in modern Iranian history through the genres of women s memoirs, novels, academic publications, blogs, and films. All readings will be in English. REQUIRED TEXTS Al-Saltanah, Taj. Crowning Anguish: Memoirs of a Persian Princess from the Harem to Modernity. Editor Abbas Amanat. Mage Publishers, ISBN-10: or ISBN-13: Farman-Farmaian, Sattareh. Daughter of Persia: A Women s Journey from her Father s Harem Through the Islamic Revolution. Three Rivers Press, ISBN-10: or ISBN-13: Ebadi, Shirin. Iran Awakening: One Women s Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country. Random House, Latest Edition. ISBN-10: or ISBN-13: Afary, Janet. Sexual Politics in Modern Iran. Cambridge UP, ISBN-10: ISBN-13: Books are on reserve in the library A copy of this syllabus and other course materials can be found at: Class Schedule Week I: (March 29-31) 1

2 Readings: Sexual Politics. Chapters 1& 2 Week II (April 5-7) Readings: Crowning Anguish, pp Sexual Politics, Chapter 3 Week III (April 12-14) Readings: Sexual Politics. Part II. Note: April 14 we meet back in Room 3001E Weeks IV (April 19-21) Midtern Exam on April 19 Note: on this day we meet back in Room 3001E Readings: Daughter of Persia, pp Week V (April 26-28) April 26: Readings: Daughter of Persia, pp April 28: Iran Awakening, pp Week VI (May 3-5) Reading: Sexual Politics. Chapter 9, 10, 11 and conclusion. May 5: Topic statement & short bibliography due for Group Projects Week VII (May 10-12) Library Research Week VIII (May 17-19) Group Presentations Weeks IX (May 24-26) Group Presentations Week X (May 31-June 2) Group Presentations Final Exam: Monday June 6 COURSE REQUIREMENTS 1. Leading Discussion (10%): Students will lead and facilitate discussions during weeks II, IV, V, VI. Groups of 4-5 students will be assigned to lead the bi-weekly discussions. You are expected to present a summary and analysis of the assigned readings and provide background information. Please follow these guidelines in preparing your presentation: 2

3 Your group presentation should be no more than 40 minutes. Divide the assigned reading among members of your group. There should be no gaps. Read the entire book (even if you are speaking on a portion of it) and the assigned chapters several times and take good notes. Look up the references and try to be creative with your presentation. Create a power point presentation with bullet points. Critically summarize and analyze your portion of the text. Use available video clips and images from Google Image and YouTube. At the end, provide the class with a list of discussion questions and encourage them to respond Send your discussion questions to the instructor the day before. I might suggest revisions, which you should incorporate before class the instructor a copy of your individual presentation after class The entire class is expected to do the assigned readings, take notes during presentations, and participate in the discussion. There will be quizzes on discussion questions in class 2. Exam (40%) There will be a midterm and an optional final exam. If you decide not to take the final exam the Essay will count as 40% of your grade instead of 20%. Exams will include short essay questions. Details will be discussed later. 3. Group Project (30%) Groups of 4-5 students will present a multi-media presentation in class. One group will be assigned to each class period starting in Week VIII. Students are expected to base their research on peer-reviewed books and articles, as well as newspapers, weblogs, interviews, and materials available on websites. Also check the bibliography on the last page of this syllabus. Presentations should be based on women s lives and gender relations in one of the following periods in Iranian history: Qajar, Early Pahlavi, National Front Era, Late Pahlavi, The 1979 Revolution and the 1980s, and the last two decades under the Islamic Republic. 4. Essay (20%): In connection to your group project, each member of the group will revise and expand his or her presentation and write an essay on the subject, complete with footnotes and bibliography. Papers should be 8 typed pages (double-spaced, 12-point font). Essays are due on Monday June 6. Below are some possible topics for your essays, though you should feel free to propose other topics: 3

4 Qajar era ( ): a) veiling and its meanings; b) women in the Constitutional Revolution; c) harem life; d) slavery and women; e) Western travelogues and gender issues. Early Pahlavi era ( ): a) unveiling in 1936; b) health, education, and sports reforms; c) women s organizations; d) international conferences of Middle Eastern women (including Iranian women); gender, poets and authors of the period (Ex: Sadeq Hedayat, Parvin Etesami). National Front period ( ): a) attitudes about women and minorities in the Communist Movement; b) attitudes about women and minorities in the Nationalist Movement; c) World War II and gender reforms in the Middle East; d) gender in the works of major Iranian writers of the period; e) Queen Soraya, Princess Ashraf and Iranian Politics. Late Pahlavi era ( ): a) women s Suffrage and the White Revolution; b) the Women s Organization of Iran; c) poetry of Forough Farrokhzad; d) gender in the works of Jalal al-ahmad and Ali Shariati; e) women in Films of the Pahlavi era. Islamic Revolution and 1980s: a) backlash in women s rights; b) women and the Iran-Iraq War; c) interviews with leftist and nationalist activists of the period; d) interviews with women who emigrated outside the country; e) temporary marriage and divorce; f) Islamist women. 1990s and 2000s: a) Family planning; b) the Million Signatures Campaign; c) women filmmakers such as Tahmineh Milani, Rakhshan Bani Etemad, or Samira Makhmalbaf; d) women authors inside Iran and in the diasporas; e) women in the Green Movement; 5) sexuality in the blogosphere. Current Events: Current events will be discussed in class. Students are expected to read daily newspapers and follow both world events and discussions pertaining to gender and sexuality in Iran and the Middle East. Attendance Policy: More than (2) excused or unexcused absences might bring your grade down Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses and will not be tolerated. They are violations of university regulations. Please note the following: Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, presenting another author s ideas or words as one s own (this includes but is not limited to the worldwide web), or tampering with the academic work of other students. Such actions will be subject to disciplinary action. If you have any questions about academic integrity, please consult the instructor. A single act of cheating or plagiarism will result in a failing grade on that assignment. Depending on the severity of the case, further disciplinary actions may be taken based on University policy. Select Bibliography Mostly on Iran 4

5 Afary, Janet, and Kevin Anderson Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Afary, Janet. The Iranian Constitutional Revolution. New York: Columbia University Press, Arasteh, A. Reza Education and Social Awakening in Iran, Leiden: E. J. Brill. Azam Zanganeh, Lila. My sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes: Uncensored Iranian Voices. Boston: Beacon Press, Bamdad, Badr al-muluk From Darkness into Light: Women s Emancipation in Iran. Translated and edited by F. R. Bagley. Hicksville, NY: Exposition Press. Beck, Lois and Guity Nashat, eds Women in Iran: From 1800 to the Islamic Republic. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. Booth, Marilyn, ed. Harem Histories: Envisioning Places and Living Spaces. Duke University Press, Esfandiari, Haleh. My Prison, My Home: One Woman s Story of Captivity in Iran. Harper Collins Books, Friedl, Erika. Women of Deh Koh; Lives in an Iranian Village. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, Ghahremani, Zohreh. Sky of Red Poppies. San Diego: Turquoise Books, 2010 Haeri, Shahla Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage in Shi i Iran. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Howard, Jane Inside Iran: Women s Lives. Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers. Keddie, Nikki R. Women in the Middle East. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Milani, Farzaneh Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Mir-Hosseini, Ziba Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Moallem, Minoo Between Warrior Brother and Veiled Sister: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Politics of Patriarchy in Iran. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Moaveni, Azadeh Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran. New York: Public Affairs Honey moon in Tehran. New York: Random House, Nafisi, Azar Reading Lolita in Tehran. Random House. Naghibi, Nima Rethinking Global Sisterhood: Western Feminism and Iran. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Najmabadi, Afsaneh Women with Mustaches and Men Without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Nomani, Farhad and Sohrab Behdad. Class and Labor in Iran: Did the Revolution Matter? Syracuse University Press, Nouraie-Simone, Fereshteh. On Shifting Ground: Muslim Women in the Global Era. New York: The Feminist Press at CUNY, Paidar, Parvin Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Parsipur, Shahrnush. Women Without Men. The Feminist Press at CUNY, Reeves, Minou Female Warriors of Allah: Women and the Islamic Revolution. New York: E.P. Dutton. Rice, Clara Colliver Persian Women and Their Ways. London: Seeley, Service and Co. Ltd. Sanasarian, Eliz The Women s Rights Movement in Iran: Mutiny, Appeasement, and Repression from 1900 to Khomeini. New York: Praeger. 5

6 Sarshar, Houman, ed Esther s Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews. Beverly Hills, California: The Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History. Sciolino, Elaine Persian Mirrors: The Illusive Face of Iran. New York: Free Press. Sedghi, Hamideh. Women and Politics in Iran: Veiling, Unveiling, and Reveiling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sheil, Mary (Lady). [1856] Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia. New York: Arno Press. Shirazi, Faegheh The Veil Unveiled: The Hijab in Modern Culture. Florida: Universityk Press of Florida. Sullivan, Zohreh Exiled Memories: Stories of Iranian Diaspora. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, Tabari, Azar and Nahid Yeganeh, eds In the Shadow of Islam: The Women s Movement in Iran. London: Zed Press. Walz, Terence and Kenneth M. Cuno, eds. Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Cairo and New York: The American University in Cairo Press, Wright, Robin. The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran. Vintage Books, Yonan, Rev. Isaac Malek Persian Women. Nashville: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House. 6