Anthropology 3969/5969-02 (6090;6113)
Middle East 4880-3 (7635)
Love, Sex, and Family in the Middle East
Summer Semester 2006
Dr. Ewa Wasilewska

COURSE OUTLINE

Instructor:		Dr. Ewa Wasilewska
			Email: Mruczek@AOL.com
			Website: www.ewas.us

Office hours: 	By appointment only; please call the Department of Anthropology (581-6251) and leave your name, phone number, and class number.
	
Time:			Every Monday and Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Location:		Campus ST 216

Important dates:	May 24, 06 – last day to drop classes
			May 30, 06 – last day to add classes
			May 30, 06 – last day to elect CR/NC option or to audit classes
			June 2, 06 – last day to withdraw from term length classes

Required Texts:	All required articles are on RESERVE in the Marriott library. They are listed in order of topics discussed under specific class meetings.
 
Optional Texts: 	Ewa Wasilewska: Love, Sex, and Family in the Middle East. Notes. 2006. (EW)
Notes can be purchased during the first three class meetings.

Course Description:	This course focuses on various aspects and attitudes toward love, sex, and family in the Middle East. It examines them since the earliest available written records until modern period. Special emphasis is paid to selection of marriage partners and societal expectations of young people. 

Course Requirements:	 
All students are expected to attend lectures and read required material. There are three, take-home, exams (no more than 5 pages each; typed;double-space) especially designed for the type of material covered by specific lectures and by required readings.  Each undergraduate student will be required to write a final research paper (10 pages plus bibliography) on the topic related to the class material. This paper must be turned in by the end of the term semester (August 2, 2006). 

GRADUATE STUDENTS

In addition to the requirements listed above, graduate students are required to write a research paper of ca. 20 pages (plus bibliography). Each topic must be discussed with the instructor first. It must be turned in by the end of the term semester (August 2, 2006). 

Meeting # 1 – May 15, 2006
The Middle East: geographical and historical introduction.

Readings for MEETING # 1
EW: H. #1

Eickelman, Dale F.: Anthropology, the Middle East, and Central Asia. In The Middle East and Central Asia. An Anthropological Approach. Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1998. Pp. 1-26.

Soden, Wolfram von: Chapters I-III. In The Ancient Orient. An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1994. Pp. 1-20.

Readings for MEETING # 2:
EW: H. #2

Eickelman, Dale F.: Personal and Family Relationships. (whole chapter #7). Naming. Women, Men, and Sexuality (part of chapter 8). In The Middle East and Central Asia. An Anthropological Approach. Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1998. Pp. 147-199.

Haeri, Sharla: Introduction. Marriage as Contract. Permanent Marriage: Nikah. In Law of desire. Temporary Marriage in Shi’i Iran. Syracuse University Press: 1989. Pp. 1-48.

Ahmed, Leila: Women and the Rise of Islam. In Women and Gender in Islam. Yale University Press:1992. Pp. 41-63.

Meeting # 2 – May 17, 2006
Family as a formalized and/or traditional institution. Various types of marriages. 

Readings for MEETING # 3:
EW: H. #3

Al-Khayyat, Sana: The Pressure to Conform. In Honour and Shame. Saqi Books. 1990. Pp. 21 –56.

Guthrie, Shirley: Fertility, Health and Childcare. In Arab Women in the Middle Ages. Saqi Books: 2001. Pp. 41-64.

Meeting # 3 – May 22, 2006
Birth and childhood. A matter of honor.

TAKE HOME EXAM – to be turned in by May 31, 2006

	Readings for MEETING # 4:
EW: H. #4 

Al-Khayyat, Sana: Choosing a Partner. In Honour and Shame. Saqi Books. 1990. Pp. 57 –78.

Guthrie, Shirley: Contraception and Abortion.  In Arab Women in the Middle Ages. Saqi Books: 2001. Pp. 64 --78.

Meeting # 4 – May 24, 2006
The marriage route: spousal selection and the first days “thereafter.” 

Readings for MEETINGS #5, 6,7:
EW: H. #5, 6,7.

Schumann, Ruth Antelme & Stephane Rossing: The Sexuality of the Human World. In Sacred Sexuality in Ancient Egypt. Inner Traditions. 2001. Pp. 50-68. 

Esposito, John L. and Natana J. DeLong-Bas: Classical Muslim Family Law. In Women in Muslim Family Law. Syracuse University Press: 2001. Pp. 12--37

Meeting # 5 – May 29, 2006
MEMORIAL DAY!

Meeting # 6 – May 31, 2006
Dos and don’ts of the marriage life: procreation, adultery, gossip, seclusion. Divorce. 
Part 1.

Meeting # 7 – June 5, 2006
Dos and don’ts of the marriage life: procreation, adultery, gossip, seclusion. Divorce. 
Part 2.
TAKE HOME EXAM – to be turned in by June 14, 2006

	Readings for MEETINGS #8, 9:
EW: H# 8, 9

Al-Khayyat, Sana: Worlds Apart: Sexual Life for Women and Men. In Honour and Shame. Saqi Books. 1990. Pp. 79 -- 96.

Haeri, Sharla: Women’s Life Stories. In Law of desire. Temporary Marriage in Shi’i Iran. Syracuse University Press: 1989. Pp. 105-146.

Schumann, Ruth Antelme & Stephane Rossing: Uncommon Sexual Practices. In Sacred Sexuality in Ancient Egypt. Inner Traditions. 2001. Pp. 139-149.

Roth, Martha T.: Bestiality laws in the chapter on Hittite Laws. In Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Scholars Press: 1997. Pp. 236-237. 

* Schumann, Ruth Antelme & Stephane Rossing: The Erotic Papyrus of Turin. In Sacred Sexuality in Ancient Egypt. Inner Traditions. 2001. Pp. 150-161.

*Varone, Antonio: Eroticism In Pompeii. The J. Paul Getty Museum. 2001.

* Warning! Sexually explicit material!

Meeting # 8 – June 7, 2006
All about sex. Part 1.
Movie: History of Sex.

Meeting # 9 – June 12, 2006
All about sex. Part 2.

Readings for MEETING # 10:
EW: H. #10

Esposito, John L. and Natana J. DeLong-Bas: Classical Muslim Family Law. In Women in Muslim Family Law. Syracuse University Press: 2001. Pp. 37-46

Wasilewska, Ewa: Nor Shall They Grieve: Death and Afterlife in the Qur’an: Part One. In The World & I. The Washington Times Corporation. September 2002. Pp. 153-161.

Wasilewska, Ewa: So the Soul Can Rest. Death and Afterlife in the Qur’an: Part Two. In The World & I. The Washington Times Corporation. October 2002. Pp. 156-169.

Meeting # 10 – June 14, 2006
Aging, death, and inheritance.

Meeting # 11 – June 19, 2006
Meeting # 12 – June 21, 2006
A movie week. The following movies are available in the Marriott Library and/or in the collection of the Middle East Center. 
Movie: A Summer in La Goulette. Tunisia 1996. (MEC collection).
Movie: Leila. Iran. (MEC collection).
Movie: Divorce Iranian Style (MEC collection). 
Movie: Man of Ashes. Tunisia. 2000. (MEC collection).
Movie: Yol (Marriott Library).

For your final (take-home) exam, please select three movies to watch. Then, write a comparative critique of these movies using class lectures and readings and, in the process, answer the following question: which of three selected sexual behaviors/customs in the Middle East do you consider to be most interesting/shocking/unusual, etc. and why? Please provide specific examples.

AUGUST 2, 2006 – final exams and research papers must be turned in to the Dept. of Anthropology, ST. Build. 102.