An Anthropology of the Middle East
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Proposed Anthropology Course
Anthropology of the Middle East (01:070:242)
Instructor: Becky Schulthies, Ph.D.
Semester XXX
Time:
Venue:
Office: 108E Giddings
Office Hours: Tues 1:30-3:30 or by appointment
Email: becky.schulthies@rutgers.edu
The Middle East is rich in complexity and anthropologists have long researched, theorized, and written about the
people who work, claim, contest, negotiate, barter, marry, worship, migrate from and return to this place. Through a
fine-grained observational lens, anthropologists have tried to describe and make sense of communities whose lives
are increasingly interconnected with their own. How they do that is the focus of this course. This course is an
introduction to ethnographic studies of the Middle East, not a survey of the region’s history or politics. We will
focus on representations of peoples and places through the lens of anthropologists and those who use
anthropological methods, critically examining the ways they frame their research, writing, and own position in the
communities and texts. The primary questions are: how have scholars captured life in these communities? How
does the process of creating and describing a Muslim “other” reveal much about themselves and their own
communities?
A previous course in anthropology is required. This course is thematically arranged rather than chronological,
though not all topics have an assigned week. Some key concepts, such as religious worship patterns, migration,
gender, and expressive culture recur throughout. Readings and class discussion will include the following:
 Colonialism and Ethnography: Representations and Power
 Islam as an Anthropological Subject
 Gender, Nationalism and Health
 Muslims and their others: Minority Representations and Relations
 Language and Identity
 Migration, Globalization and Negotiations of Social Change
 Expressive Culture and Islam
 Youth, Protest Movements and Reform Mobilizations
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The key goals of this class are:
 To gain a deeper knowledge of the human complexity and richness in the Middle East
 To enhance your understanding of ethnography as a writing genre and analytical method
 To learn how to critically engage theories and texts about communities and practices in the region
 To expand your research, analysis, writing, and oral presentation skills
CLASSROOM PROCEDURES:
 You are expected to complete the assigned readings before class, to attend all class meetings, and to come
prepared to actively engage with course material by thinking critically and creatively about the assigned texts
and the issues they raise. Each student will be assigned a section of the assigned reading to generate discussion
questions for class each week. Those questions will be posted to the discussion section of mycourses before
3pm the day before class meets (Mondays), so all can respond to and think about before arriving to class on
Tuesday.
 Since we meet once a week, you should plan on up to five hours of reading and preparation for each class. You
will need to pace yourself so you aren’t cramming before class. This course will be taught using readings, class
discussions, writing assignments, lectures, small-group work, audio-visual presentations and oral reports.
 Assessments (writing assignments, projects, presentations, etc.) will be designed to evaluate your knowledge
and dedication to accomplish the intended learning outcomes. Please take advantage of all the assessment
opportunities you will have in this course by using the assessments to reflect on the depth and value of your
learning. You will receive points by emailing me that you have read the syllabus.
 This course will have materials available on the Internet through MyCourses and books reserved in the library.
You will need to access several articles via the ejournals link on the library homepage. If you are unfamiliar
with how to do this, you need to contact me as soon as possible. Check MyCourses often for assignment updates
An Anthropology of the Middle East
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and course announcements. You will submit some assignments on MyCourses, and others in class, so check the
announcements page on MyCourses often.
Please note also the following policies:
 Late submission is not accepted without prior permission of the instructor.
 Incompletes will not be permitted, except under extraordinary circumstances and with proper documentation.
 Special arrangements for students with documented needs or disabilities should be made well in advance of
assignment due-dates and exams. Please discuss these with me as soon as possible; after the fact
accommodations will not be possible.
ASSIGNMENTS:
 Class Attendance, Preparedness and Participation: Participation means engaging the material before class and
demonstrating your careful preparation through class discussions and activities. Students are expected to attend
all classes; if you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the University absence reporting website
https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/ to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email is automatically sent
to me. If you miss an in-class activity and have not registered your absence, you will not receive points for that
assignment. In cases where you must miss class for periods longer than one week, you will as per university
policy be directed to see a Dean of Students for assistance to help verify these circumstances. 30pts
 Weekly Response Questions: Each student will be responsible for posting two questions raised by the readings
to the Sakai discussion forum by Monday at 3pm before class. You will then respond to two questions posted by
classmates by 3pm Tuesday before class. Your response will need to be 400 words to each question, so take
care in composing both your questions and responses. Sometimes students will be assigned specific chapters to
respond to and lead class discussion around the questions posted. 40 pts
 Map Quiz: This will test students' knowledge of the physical and human geography of the Middle East.
Students are strongly encouraged to study a Middle East and North Africa map thoroughly and learn the
locations of countries, major cities, waterways (straits, rivers, etc.), mountains, ethnic and religious groups
(Kurds, Maronites, Amazigh/Berber, Karaites, Alevis), as well as historical references (Anatolia, Maghrib,
Levant) in the region. In the quiz, students will be asked to identify geographical locations on a blank Middle
East map. A study guide is on Sakai. 10 pts
 Film Response: Choose one of the weekly assigned films and write a one-page response to the film. The paper
should include a summary of the film, how it relates to the topic discussed that week, and your response to its
content. Response is due one week after the film appears on the schedule, and should be posted to Sakai before
class. 10 pts
 Book Review: Select an ethnography we will not be reading collectively in class. Read sufficiently to analyze
writing style, methodologies used, and theoretical framework. Then write a two-page book review including a
summary of the ethnography and your analysis of content and style. You should submit on Sakai prior to the
due-date listed on the schedule. 20 pts.
 Interview Project: This project is to help you think about research methods. Brainstorm a research question and
develop a list of interview questions that will help you explore that idea. Identify someone originally from the
Middle East with whom you can conduct a one-hour interview. I can help you find someone for this assignment
if you do not know anyone, but you need to contact me well before the assignment is due. Keep notes of the
interview (even if you record), along with a brief analysis of the interview from an intercultural communication
perspective (how did you contact this person, what was the setting for the interview, did you cover the questions
you prepared or did you have to make adjustments, were there things you expected/didn’t expect, how did this
person’s ideas/experience fit with what we have read or discussed, what would you have done differently if you
could). Make sure to include interview citation reference and attach your written interview notes. This is a twopage writing assignment, single-spaced, and submitted on Sakai. 20 pts
 Final Project: Each student will research and write about an ethnographic topic studied in the Middle East to
identify gaps in the scholarship. This is known as a literature review. You can choose to write a paper or
develop a short multimedia essay about the topic. To receive credit for this assignment, you must submit, on or
before the dates listed in the schedule, a project proposal, a draft of your project for peer review, and a final
polished paper/presentation. The proposal should include a description of your project topic, a brief review of
key scholarly literature you know about, what you expect to find, and a bibliography. You will be expected to
prepare a substantial draft of your paper/project for peer review on the date scheduled below. You should have a
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clearly defined topic and thesis, and should consult, incorporate, and properly document at least five reliable
sources in supporting your thesis (even if you are preparing a multimedia project). Each student will be
responsible for reviewing and evaluating another student’s work toward the end of the semester, and will need
to return it with comments on the organization and flow, clarity, and citation support (do not worry about
grammar and punctuation for written projects). It is expected that conventional standards of scholarship (see the
information on plagiarism) will be adhered to in presenting your ideas and supporting material (see the AAA
style guide on Sakai). Written projects will need to be no more than 3500 words. Multimedia projects will need
approval from the instructor. Your paper/project, along with the peer review draft and comments, will be due
XXX, and should be submitted on Sakai (or as a DVD in my office). Your project will be evaluated in terms of
content (clarity of thinking and writing, originality of ideas) and mechanics (organization, spelling, punctuation)
as outlined in the grading rubric found on Sakai. If you have any questions about how to choose a topic or write
a proper paper or essay, please make an appointment will me so we can discuss them. 40 pts
Brown Policies: Please make yourself aware of the student code of conduct.
Disabilities: Follow the policies outlined here http://disabilityservices.rutgers.edu/request.html.
Plagiarism: In preparing assignments a student often needs or is required to employ outside sources of information
or opinion. All such sources should be listed in the bibliography. Citations and footnote references are required for
all specific facts that are not common knowledge and about which there is not general agreement. New discoveries
or debatable opinions must be credited to the source, with specific references to edition and page even when the
student restates the matter in his or her own words. Word-for-word inclusion of any part of someone else’s written
or oral sentence, even if only a phrase or sentence, requires citation in quotation marks and use of the appropriate
conventions for attribution. Citations should normally include author, title, edition, and page. (Quotations longer
than one sentence are generally indented from the text of the essay, without quotation marks, and identified by
author, title, edition, and page.) Paraphrasing or summarizing the contents of another’s work is not dishonest if
the source or sources are clearly identified (author, title, edition, and page), but such paraphrasing does not
constitute independent work and may be rejected by the instructor. Students who have questions about accurate and
proper citation methods are expected to consult Brown’s policies on plagiarism.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
 Bowen, Donna Lee and Evelyn Early, eds. 2002. Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East, Indiana University
press, 2nd Edition.
 Ernst, Carl. 2003 Following Muhammad. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
 Haeri, Niloofar. 2003 Sacred Language, Ordinary People. Palgrave.
 Kannaneh, Rhoda Ann. 2002 Birthing the Nation: Strategies of Palestinian Women in Israel. University of
California Press.
 Mahdavi, Pardis. 2011 Gridlock. Labor, Migration and Human Trafficking in Dubai. Stanford University Press.
Optional:
 Deeb, Lara. 2006 An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Lebanon. Princeton University Press.
Date and Theme
Sept 13 Unit of
Analysis: What is
the ME?
Readings
Recommended Background Reading:
Davison, Roderic 1960 “Where is the Middle East?”
Foreign Affairs 38(4):665-675.
Assignments
Watch Lawrence of Arabia
Keddie, Nikki 1973 “Is there a Middle East?” IJMES
4(3):255-271.
Sept 20 Tools of the
Trade: Researching
and Representing
Caton, Steven 1999 Lawrence of Arabia: A Film’s
Anthropology. Berkeley: University of California Press,
142-171.
Mitchell, Jon P. 2010 Introduction. In Ethnographic
Practice in the Present. Marit Melhuus, Jon P. Mitchell
and Helena Wulff. Pp. 2-8. New York: Berghahn
Books.
Watch Reel Bad Arabs
Map Quiz in class
An Anthropology of the Middle East
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Nadjmabadi, Shabnez 2004 From “Alien” to “One of
Us” and Back: Field Experiences in Iran. Iranian
Studies 37(4):603-612
Said, Edward 2001 [1976] Arabs, Islam and Dogmas of
the West. In Orientalism: A Reader. Alexander Macfie,
ed. Pp. 104-105. New York: NYU Press.
Said, Edward 1997 Covering Islam. Pantheon Books, 332, 154-164.
Hannerz, Ulf 1998 Reporting from Jerusalem. Cultural
Anthropology 13(4):548-574
Ghosh, Amitav 2005 [1986] The Imam and the Indian.
In Incendiary Circumstances: A Chronicle of the
Turmoil of Our Times. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 287-298.
Sept 27 Islam as
Anthropological
Subject
Oct 4 Representing
Islam
Oct 11 Gendered
Voices
Oct 18 Gender and
Nationalism
Oct 25 Women’s
Discourses
Nov 1 Migration
Optional:
Abu-Lughod, Lila 2009 Dialects of Women’s
Empowerment: The International Circuitry of the Arab
Human Development Report 2005. International Journal
of Middle East Studies 41:83-103
Ernst, Carl 2003 Following Muhammad. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press
Bowen, Donna Lee and Evelyn Early, eds. 2002
Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East, second
edition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
chapters 14, 16, 21-29, 31, new material
Bowen and Early, chapters 6, 9-13, 17-20, new material
Kanaaneh, Rhoda Ann 2002 Birthing the Nation:
Palestinian Women in Israel. Berkeley: University of
California Press, pp 1-103
Kanaaneh, pp 104-228, conclusion
Mahdavi, Pardis 2011 Gridlock: Labor, Migration and
Human Trafficking in Dubai. Stanford: Stanford
University Press. Chapters 1, 2, 4
AND
McMurray, David 2006 Haddou. In Struggle and
Survival in the Modern Middle East, Edmund Burke III
and David N. Yaghoubian, eds. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 281-297
OR
Provence, Michael 2006 Talal Rizk: A Syrian Engineer
in the Gulf. In Struggle and Survival in the Modern
Middle East, Edmund Burke III and David N.
Yaghoubian, eds. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 405-420
Optional:
Ghannam, Farha 1998 Keeping Him Connected: Labor
Migration and the Production of Locality in Cairo. City
Watch Inside Mecca
Watch Four Women of Egypt
Watch Caramel or Yacoubian
Building
Proposal Due
Watch Miral
Watch The Boarding House
http://www.vimeo.com/2931212
An Anthropology of the Middle East
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Nov 8 Movements
and Society 10(1):65-82
Mahdavi, pp 91-221
Interview Assignment Due
Nov 15 Language
and Identity
Haeri, Niloofar 2003 Sacred Language, Ordinary
People. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, pp 1-72,
Watch Arabizi
www.ikbis.com/shorts/256844
Bowen and Early, chapters 34, 35
Holes, Clive 2011 The Chaos of the Fatwas. Paper
presented at the sixth annual Popular Culture in the
Middle East Conference, Vienna Austria, Sept 9
Nov 22 Expressive
Culture
Kapchan, Deborah 1996 Gender on the Market:
Moroccan Women and the Revoicing of Tradition.
University of Pennsylvania Press, 72-102
Haeri, pp. 113-157
Book Review Due
Bowen and Early, chapter 33
Nov 29
Others
Islam’s
Schulthies, Becky. Reform Registers and Plurilingual
Politics: Arab Youth Slang in Youtube Political
Caricature. In E-Arabics, Anissa Daoudi, ed.
Cambridge, Cambridge Scholars Press.
Levy, Andre 2000 Playing for Control of Distance:
Card Games between Jews and Muslims on a
Casablancan Beach. American Ethnologist 26(3):632653
Shenoda, Anthony 2011 Reflections on the Invisibility
of Copts in Egypt. Jadaliyya May 18, 2011
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1624/reflectionson-the-%28in%29visibility-of-copts-in-egyp
Kraidy, Marwan. 1999. The Global, the Local, and the
Hybrid: A Native Ethnography of Glocalization.
Critical Studies in Mass Communication 16:456-476
Cantini, Daniele. 2009. Being Baha’i in Egypt: An
ethnographic analysis of everyday challenges.
Anthropology of the Middle East 4(2):34-51
Prochazka-Eisl, Gisela, and Stephan Prochazka 2010
The Plain of Saints and Prophets: The Nusayri-Alawi
Community of Cicilia and its Sacred Places.
Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Gmbh and Company,
57-80
Dec 6 Reform
Movements
Bayat, Asef 2009 Life as Politics: How Ordinary People
Change the Middle East. Stanford: Stanford University
Press, 1-26
Beinin Joel 2011 A Worker’s Social Movement on the
Margin of the Global Neoliberal Order, Egypt 20042009. In Social Movements, Mobilization, and
Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa, Joel
Beinin and Frederic Vairel, eds. Stanford: Stanford
Peer Draft Due
An Anthropology of the Middle East
University Press, 181-201
Hirschkind, Charles 2006 Cassette Ethics: Public Piety
and Popular Media in Egypt. In Religion, Media and the
Public Sphere, Birgit Meyer and Annelies Moors, eds.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 29-51
Menarot, Pascal 2009 Urban Unrest and Non-religious
Radicalization in Saudi Arabia. In Dying for Faith:
Religiously Motivated Violence in the Contemporary
World, Madawi Al-Rasheed and Marat Shterin, eds.
New York: I.B. Tauris, 123-137
Deeb, Lara 2006 An Enchanted Modern: Gender and
Public Piety in Lebanon. Princeton University Press,
204-217
Dec 13
White, Jenny 2002 The Islamist Paradox. In Fragments
of Culture: The Everyday of Modern Turkey, Deniz
Kandiyoti and Ayse Saktanber, eds. New Brunswick:
Rutgers University Press, 191-221
Final Paper Due
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