Veiling as Theory and Practice: Wearing Hejab in Iran
When: Tuesday,
April 24, 2018
2:00 PM
-
3:15 PM
Cost: NA
Description: Claire T. Carney Library | Room 215, Honors Seminar Room
Abstract:
Wearing hejab (Muslim modest dress; Muslim women's headscarf) is often assumed to be a simple indication of a woman's religious commitment. But in Iran, where all women (Muslim and non-Muslim, Iranian and foreigners) are required to dress modestly and cover their hair, the variations in a woman's modest street clothing and public head covering may indicate many things other than religion. How do women balance legal, practical, and personal requirements in the varieties of their everyday dress? This talk will address veiling as both public obligation and personal representation in the contemporary Islamic Republic of Iran.
About the speaker:
Dr. Norma Claire Moruzzi is Associate Professor of Political Science, Gender and Women's Studies, and History, Director of the International Studies Program, and chair of the Middle East and Muslim Societies Cluster at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her book Speaking through the Mask: Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Social Identity won the 2002 Gradiva Award, and she has published on women's and gender issues and cinema in Iran and the Middle East, is a consulting editor and former board member of the journal Middle East Report (MERIP). She is currently writing a book based on ten years of field work research in Iran, titled Tied Up in Tehran: Women, Social Change, and the Politics of Daily Life.
Lecture is organized by Professor Pamela Karimi and in conjunction with Hons 203: Creating a Global Community [The Visual and Material Cultures of Islam]
For questions contact: pamela.karimi@umassd.edu
Abstract:
Wearing hejab (Muslim modest dress; Muslim women's headscarf) is often assumed to be a simple indication of a woman's religious commitment. But in Iran, where all women (Muslim and non-Muslim, Iranian and foreigners) are required to dress modestly and cover their hair, the variations in a woman's modest street clothing and public head covering may indicate many things other than religion. How do women balance legal, practical, and personal requirements in the varieties of their everyday dress? This talk will address veiling as both public obligation and personal representation in the contemporary Islamic Republic of Iran.
About the speaker:
Dr. Norma Claire Moruzzi is Associate Professor of Political Science, Gender and Women's Studies, and History, Director of the International Studies Program, and chair of the Middle East and Muslim Societies Cluster at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her book Speaking through the Mask: Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Social Identity won the 2002 Gradiva Award, and she has published on women's and gender issues and cinema in Iran and the Middle East, is a consulting editor and former board member of the journal Middle East Report (MERIP). She is currently writing a book based on ten years of field work research in Iran, titled Tied Up in Tehran: Women, Social Change, and the Politics of Daily Life.
Lecture is organized by Professor Pamela Karimi and in conjunction with Hons 203: Creating a Global Community [The Visual and Material Cultures of Islam]
For questions contact: pamela.karimi@umassd.edu
Topical Areas: Faculty, Women and Gender Studies, Lectures and Seminars