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Considering questions of gender in Moroccan society requires situating the topic in the broader historical, religious, social, cultural, political, geographic, and contemporary contexts of which it is a part. While our study focuses largely on Morocco, we will pay considerable attention to the broader Middle East and North Africa given the inextricable ties that bind this region, as well as the forces that drive them apart. It will consider gender in the pre-Islamic MENA region, as well as the changes introduced by Islam as they pertain to sex roles, male-female dynamics, and the degree to which male ideology has dominated social practices. We will examine both the Qur'an and Islamic law (Shari'a) for clues regarding questions of gender, as well as look at deeply rooted (but also changing) cultural notions of gender. As early as the19th century Moroccan women, like women in other parts of the region (i.e. Huda Sha'arwi and the feminist movement in Egypt), gained greater awareness of questions of women's rights and feminism. Critical examination of these topics requires an equally critical look at questions of men and masculinity, although the latter is much more recent as a field of study, as well as how relations between men and women continue to change. Beginning with the more general themes of history, culture, and religion, the course will then move to more recent matters. The Moudawana or Personal Status Code (viewed by many as inherently discriminatory); the upheavals of the early 21st century; questions of politics and power; and the on-going reverberations in the wake of the Arab spring are just a few of the topics that will occupy our time and discussion. From dress, relations between men and women, the family, and the larger questions of history, religion, and culture this course engages both students and professor in a conversation that is taking place not only here in Morocco but across the Middle East and North Africa.