The course introduces students to the ethnographic study of the MENA region (Middle East North Africa), through a variety of interconnected topics that are relevant both for the region and for the broader discipline. Main goal of the course is to show how knowledge on particular aspects of the life in the MENA is produced ethnographically. Anthropology’s approach to the Middle East has been critically attentive to the interactions between institutions of knowledge production and political power. The course explores the historical, cultural, and political forces that have circumscribed how "the Middle East" is an object and agent of knowledge production. This problematic remains a framing question throughout this course.
The ethnographies presented in the course deal with youth, religion, namely Islam, gender and the body, questions of space and production of morality and of social hierarchies. The course deals also with state institutions in fluctuating configurations of power, and how they shape social identities. Other topics are contests over memory and history, ethnocidal violence, and the impact of migration.
Students will learn to assess data and evidence critically from the texts provided for the seminars, and they will in particular acquire the ability of thinking about ways in which ethnographic knowledge is produced. The course introduces students to highly relevant contemporary themes, and encourages a critical analysis of how anthropological knowledge is produced. Moreover, students are encouraged to develop their analytical skills in oral and written forms, and to engage in discussions during the seminars.
Recommended Reading: Hafez, S. and S. Slyomovics (eds.), Anthropology of the Middle East and North Africa: Into the New Millennium, Indiana University Press 2013.
