The 2007 Fall Institute at UMass Boston invites proposals that explore critically the relationship between Islam and Feminisms today. It seeks to examine the complex and rich terrain of Islam as a force for understanding global politics, an impetus for political and psychological self-determination, a stimulus for cultural productions, and a foundation for identity. By engaging Islam through a feminist lens, we hope to challenge inadequately interrogated assumptions and modes of thinking that posit secularism and democracy in opposition to religiosity and oppression. The critical perspective of feminist analysis provides a particularly valuable window into the many struggles internal to Islam, its changing dynamics over time, and the intersecting influences of economic/cultural globalization, imperialism and patriarchal power structures in the lives of individuals, communities, and nations.
Conference Details
Engaging Islam: Preliminary Conference Schedule The Institute is free and open to the public. No registration is necessary for non-presenting attendees.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Panel Title: “Defining Islamic Feminisms”
Key-Note: Amina Wadud
Key-Note: Haideh Moghissi
Key-Note: Lila Abu-Lughod
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
Panel Title: “Negotiating Shari’a and the ‘Secular State’”
9-10AM Key-Note: Madhavi Sunder
10-10:30AM – Break
10:30-12:30 – Panel:
12:30-1:30 Break for Lunch
Panel Title: “Negotiating Shari’a and the ‘Secular State’” (continued)
1:30 -2:30 Key-Note: Tariq Modood
Break: 2:30-3PM
3-5PM – Panel:
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
Panel Title: “Challenging Hegemonic Representations of Muslim Women”
9-10AM – Keynote: Lara Deeb
10-10:30AM- Break
10:30-12:30 – Panel
Panel Title: “Globalization, Gender Relations, and Sexuality”
1:30-2:30 PM – Key-Note: Jasbir Puar
Break: 2:30-3PM
3-5PM – Panel:
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
Panel Title: “Political Economy and Islamic Feminisms”
9-10AM – Keynote: Lamia Karim
10-10:30AM – Break
10:30-12:30 – Panel:
12:30-1:30 – Break for Lunch
Panel Title: “Coalition-building and Transnationalism”
1:30PM – Key-Note: Zainah Anwar
Break: 2:30-3PM
3-5PM – Panel:
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
Panel Title: Pedagogy and Islam
9AM-11:30 – Panel:
11:30-12 – Break
12-1PM – Closing Remarks
For more details about the institute and guidelines for submissions, visit website.