The Ali Vural Ak Center’s Spring 2014 Lecture Series on Women and Gender in Islam launched on February 20 with a presentation by Lara Deeb from Scripps College titled “Piety and Pleasure: Youth Negotiations of Leisure and Morality in South Beirut”. The series is meant to highlight nuanced emerging scholarship that examines the issues and dynamics surrounding gender, particularly women, in Muslim communities around the world. Dina Rizk Khoury from George Washington University and Simonetta Calderini from Roehampton University round out the series in April.
Deeb’s lecture was based on research done in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya over the past several years for her book, co-authored with Mona Harb, Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi’ite South Beirut. Her research centered on how devout teenagers and college students living in this district, known as a religiously conservative area, view their faith in relation to their personal choices and recreational activities. Balancing strong religious convictions with a flexible social life can sometimes present practical challenges, as Deeb pointed out. Far from being a monolith as is often stereotyped, the youth of Dahiya held diverse opinions on numerous issues affecting their personal lives including the etiquette of café-going, consumption of alcohol, listening to music, using cosmetics, and entering temporary marriages. Deeb highlighted instances where differences in opinion between these young men and women were more prevalent, pointing to some of the challenges that both face due to the pressure of societal norms and gendered double standards.
The next lecture in the series will be given on April 8 by Dina Rizk Khoury, who will be discussing “The Meanings of Martyrdom in Iraq”, touching on one of the most hotly contested issues in the country’s recent history. Her lecture is largely based on research that was done for her book, Iraq in Wartime: Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance. More on this lecture can be read here.
The series will conclude on April 24 with a lecture by Simonetta Calderini about “Citing the Past to Address the Present: Authorities and Unexpected Interlocutors on Female Leadership of Salat”. Tracing the history and evolution of this complicated subject, Calderini will present the different legal opinions and rulings surrounding female prayer leadership. More details on this lecture can be found here.
Other events sponsored by the Ali Vural Ak Center taking place this semester include a lecture by Chris Taylor from Boston University on “Islamic Charity in India Today” on March 4, and two presentations by the Center’s Visiting Scholars, Akif Demirci from Istanbul Sehir University on April 28, and Ramazan Yelken from Selcuk University on April 30.
February 27, 2014
