History 383: Women, Gender and the History of the Modern Egypt
Lisa Pollard Spring Semester, 2007
Office: 228 Morton T/TR 11:00-12:15
Office Hours: W 3-5 and by appointment
phone: 962-3309
e-mail: pollardl@uncwil.edu
This course takes up the subject of women, gender and the production of a body of gendered history about Egypt in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From both theoretical and topical points of view, we will consider some of the most recent literature about women and gender. Our focus of inquiry will be topics that involve and implicate women, both directly and indirectly. Such topics as the State, nationalism, war, economic reform and change, the workplace, and Islamic reform movements, will allow us to examine both the role that women play in Egyptian society, as well as how those societies are gendered. Since this is a history course, we will want to examine how women's roles, as well as gendered systems and institutions, have changed over time. We will examine how the use of women and images of women have been used, historically, to shape larger discussions of political, social and economic issues.
The format of the course will consist of lectures, discussions and the viewing of films. Because discussions will be integral to the course and its content, active participation is essential. Students should come prepared to discuss each week's reading and films. Class participation will count for 10% of your final grade.
Required Texts:
Leila Ahmed, A Border Passage
Margot Badran, Harem Years
Selma Botman, Egypt from Independence to Revolution
Nawal el-Sa'adawi, Memoirs From the Women's Prison
Cynthia Nelson, Doria Shafiq, Egyptian Feminist: A Woman Apart
Latifa al-Zayyat, The Open Door
.
Course Requirements:
--Attendance of all lectures.
--Completion of all course-reading on time.
--Active participation in discussion sections (10%)
--One three-page essay based on an exercise that we will engage in twice, once at the beginning of the course and once at the end (5%)
--Two book reviews (5% each; 10% total)
--Three take-home exams, in which you will integrate the readings with the course lectures (25% each; 75% total).
Grading scale: A=96-100; A- = 90-95; B+ = 87-89; B = 83-86; B-= 80-82; C+ = 77-79; C= 73-76; C- = 70-72; D+ = 67-69; D = 63-66; D- = 60-62.
Week One: Women, Gender and the history of modern Egypt
Thursday, January 11: Introduction to the Course
Gender and Women's History: What are the differences? Why study both?
Reading: Selma Botman, Egypt from Independence to Revolution, chapter 1. Hoda Shaarawi, Harem Years, preface and introduction. Cynthia Nelson, Doria Shafiq, Egyptian Feminist: A Woman Apart, preface.
Week Two: Egypt in the Nineteenth Century
Tuesday January 16: Film exercise. Make sure to be in class this day as you must be present to engage in this exercise.
Thursday, January 18: Women in early nineteenth-century Egypt. The building of a state in modern Egypt; what are the implications for women?
Reading: Botman, chapter 2. Shaarawi, parts one and two.
Week Three: Egypt Under the British
Tuesday January 23: The Egyptians in the European Gaze
Thursday January 25: Women’s Activities Under the British: Education, Journalism, Philanthropy.
Discussion: What did Europe think about Egypt and its women? Why? Did European images correspond with Egyptians’ lived realities?
Reading: Shaarawi, parts three and four.
Week Four: Revolutionary Decades
Tuesday January 30: Men writing about women and “The Woman Question.”
Thursday February 1: Women in the 1919 Revolution: A Mixed Legacy
Discussion: What are the differences between men talking about women, and women’s agendas for themselves?
Reading: Botman, chapter three to page 35; Shaarawi, Epilogue; Nelson, chapter one.
Week Five: Egypt’s Limited Independence
Your first take-home essay will be due at the beginning of class on Tuesday February 6, 2007.
Tuesday, February 6: Men of a new nation; women of new men.
Thursday, February 8: Women’s activities: Feminism, education, philanthropy and the struggle for suffrage.
Discussion: What are Egyptian women doing in this period? What are Egyptian men doing for them?
Reading: Botman, pp. 35-54; chapter 5; Nelson, chapters two, three and four.
Week Six: Egypt on the Eve of a Second Revolution
Tuesday February 13: Film, “The Price of Change,” and discussion.
Thursday February 15: Changing cultural expressions in Egypt; what price for women?
Reading: Botman, chapter 6; Nelson, chapters five, six, seven and eight.
Week Seven: The Nasser Years
Tuesday February 20: New State, New Agendas: Nasser the Arab, the Revolutionary, the Socialist
Thursday February 22: Nasser’s Agendas for Women: Nasser the Feminist
Discussion: How does the life of Doria Shafiq reflect the historical “life” of Egypt?
Reading: Nelson, chapters nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
Week Eight: Nasser and a New Middle East
Your book review of Nelson will be due at the beginning of class Tuesday, February 27.
Tuesday February 27: The War of 1967 and its consequences for men, for women, for the world.
Discussion: What was Nasser’s reaction to Doria Shafiq? How feminist was he?
Thursday March 1: Film, “Nasser 56,” and discussion.
Reading: Begin reading Latifa al-Zayyat’s The Open Door.
Week Nine: Spring Break
Continue reading Latifa al-Zayyat, The Open Door.
Week Ten: TBA
Continue reading al-Zayyat, The Open Door.
Week Eleven: A New State, A New Direction: Anwar al-Sadat.
Tuesday March 20: New Directions for the Egyptian State
Thursday March 22: Implications for Women: Economies, Education, Identities
Discussion: How does Latifa al-Zayyat depict relations between men and women? What, in her estimation, seems to be the catalyst for change?
Reading: Nawal El-Saadawi, Memoirs from the Women’s Prison, parts I and II.
Week Twelve: Sadat and the rise of veiled women.
Your second take-home, mid-term exam is due at the beginning of class Tuesday, March 27, 2007.
Tuesday March 27: Film “A Veiled Revolution,” and discussion.
Thursday March 29: Sadat, War and peace with Israel: Implications for the state and for women.
Reading: Memoirs from the Women’s Prison, parts III and IV
Week Thirteen: Sadat Rules, Sadat’s Rules
Tuesday April 3: Film, “Dreams of Hind and Camila,” and discussion.
Thursday, April 5: No class. Easter/Passover break.
Reading: Memoirs from the Women’s Prison, parts V and VI.
Week Fourteen: Sadat and Beyond
Tuesday April 10: Sadat and Beyond: Mubarak’s Egypt and the end of the 20th century.
Discussion: Who is Nawal El-Saadawi? Why did Sadat fear her?
Thursday April 12: Film, “Days of Democracy,” and discussion.
Your book review of Nawal El-Saadawi, Memoirs from the Women’s Prison, will be due at the beginning of class, Thursday April 12.
Reading: Begin reading Leila Ahmed, A Border Passage.
Week Fifteen: Mubarak’s Egypt
Tuesday April 24: Final film exercise. Make sure to be present this day; you cannot complete the film exercise if you are not in class.
Thursday April 26: Mubarak and the rise of “Islamic” politics; Islamic feminisms.
Your film-exercise essay is due at the beginning of class Thursday, April 26, 2007.
Reading: Continue reading Leila Ahmed, A Border Passage.
Your final, take-home exam, on Leila Ahmed’s book, will be due at the time of our class’ scheduled final exam.