ASIA 721: Transnational Feminisms of the Middle East and South Asia

This graduate seminar offers engagement with the field of transnational feminisms, with a focus on scholars, public intellectuals, and activists working on social justice issues and writing on critical themes relevant to South Asia and the South Asian diaspora. Although this iteration of the seminar is more squarely concerned with South Asia, we also consider several critical issues and related scholarship specific to the Middle East. Interrogating imperialist gestures toward a Euro-American-centric “universal sisterhood” or “global feminism,” this course seeks to create a generative space for investigations into local concerns and global responses, touching on issues of gender, sexuality, class, caste, race, the environment, etc., and scholarship that works to dismantle the hegemonies and oppressive structures of imperialism, whiteness, racism, neoliberalism, capitalism, classism, casteism, cisnormativity and heteronormativity. Students are encouraged to take an active role in peer co-mentoring and in collaboratively leading class discussions. Over the course of the semester, students will develop and write a research paper, with “scaffolding” (progressive assignments along the way) and instructor support.