Middle East/South Asia Gender and Sexuality Studies Initiative

Prof. Kathryn Babayan (Near Eastern Studies, History)

This program promotes new transcultural alliances and conversations, first among members of the organizing group, and subsequently among gender and sexuality scholars based in manifold Middle Eastern, South Asian, and European locations. As a group, we aim to foster intellectual debate across traditional national and ethnic lines (Arab, Iranian, Turkish, Jewish, Indian, Pakistani) and to explore new uses and meanings for gender and sexuality in academic and activist practices.

As a central part of the Middle East/South Asia Gender and Sexuality Studies Initiative at U-M, we plan to initiate, organize, and host a number of events on campus that foreground gender and sexuality in new and refreshing ways and mediums. Rather than confining our efforts to the traditional mode of bringing scholars for guest lectures in a lecture series, we would like to organize events that bring together scholars, artists, performers, activists, and students for stimulating exchange. We would also like to plan such events in a way that has a better chance of having a more sustained impact at the university.

One way we propose to do this is by planning clusters of inter-related events, e.g., inviting an array (Arab, Iranian, Turkish, Jewish, Indian, Pakistani) of performers/activists to campus, hosting a performance, as well as a roundtable of scholars discussing it, but also a possible performance workshop for students and interested members of the community, and a forum for activists to convene as well. We would also try to develop particular themes or areas of focus that would be sustained over the course of an academic year and would provide a more sustained conceptual framework than the traditional 'one-time lecture.' These themes would cut across traditional national and ethnic lines to initiate a novel dialogue in Middle Eastern/South Asian Gender and Sexuality Studies. These themes will also be coordinated with other relevant academic units/departments, and other relevant campus and community organizations.

We also plan to collaborate with the Arab Families Working Group (www.afwg.info), a collective of 16 feminist scholars. Thirteen live and work in Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine. Prof. Nadine Naber (Women's Studies and American Culture) is a member of the Arab Families Working Group (AFWG), and she will facilitate this partnership. Our association will begin with attendance at the AFWG’s conference planned for January, 2012, in Cairo, Egypt. It will resume with the co-organization of a joint conference to be held at U-M in fall, 2012.

For more information, please contact Prof. Kathryn Babayan.