Free 10-Week Online Seminar
Open to the Public
Course Description: This 10-week seminar will examine depictions and recordings of imprisonment in contemporary Arabic literature, with particular attention to works written by female Arab novelists. As Arab prison literature gains importance due to the lack of alternative records about prisons and detainees, feminist prison literature represents an important sector of the genre, telling the stories of violations endured by women in prison, which so often go untold due to political surveillance, cultural pressures, and traditional repression they face post-incarceration. Participants will analyze contemporary Arab novels, authors, and real-world examples of imprisonment to better understand this increasingly prominent form of women’s cultural production.
With civil society and human rights organizations being suppressed in many countries, novels and literature become a crucial alternative narrative to the state's official discourse. Beyond creative expressions, these literary works contribute to the historical record, often delving into experiences of torture, and providing insight far beyond the statistics of human rights reports.
Presented by The New University in Exile Consortium at The New School for Social Research.
Participants who attend at least 8 out of 10 complete seminar sessions will receive a certificate of satisfactory completion signed by the Dean of The New School for Social Research. In order to obtain the certificate, participants must register and log in with the same email address each week.
Registration will remain open for the duration of the seminar. Registrants will receive a reminder email with the Zoom link each week. The seminar sessions will be recorded and available to registrants on Vimeo the following week.
Syllabus and suggested readings are available on the New University in Exile Consortium website.
Dr. Mansour Ali M. Al-Maswari is a Yemeni academic and faculty member at Amran University, Yemen. He holds a Ph.D. in English with a focus on Comparative Literature, as well as two master's degrees—one in Political Science and the other in English. In 2023, he was awarded the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at Columbia University, CGC-Amman. Currently, he is a postdoctoral fellow at MESA Global Academy.Â
Dr. Sulaiman Taan is a former assistant professor in the Arabic Department at Al-
Baath University, where he taught classes on pre-Islamic literature, Umayyad literature, and literary text analysis. Taan also worked at GaziosmanpaÅŸa University, Turkey. His research interests include Arabic studies, cultural studies of the
Middle East and Arab world, media, drama, and communications.
Committed to amplifying diverse voices, The New School offers more than a thousand public programs and events each year, providing fresh perspectives and unique learning opportunities. These lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and performances feature prominent and emerging artists, activists, and thought leaders. Be sure to visit our Events Calendar to see the full roster.
Â
To receive updates about public programs and events at The New School, subscribe to our mailing list. Visit our Livestream and YouTube channels to watch select events live and recorded.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum sagittis mi eu elementum malesuada. Maecenas arcu felis, suscipit vitae mi in, posuere ultricies nunc. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut ante velit, condimentum eget erat a, suscipit porttitor nisl. Pellentesque in semper nunc. Duis ultricies lacus nec dolor elementum efficitur. Cras congue neque et ipsum egestas, tincidunt tempor magna elementum. Maecenas in rhoncus ante, ac mattis lectus. Donec pulvinar nulla a varius malesuada. Ut auctor enim mi, mollis laoreet eros aliquam eget. Proin lectus tellus, ullamcorper nec neque a, ornare facilisis tellus. Proin in eros sit amet diam imperdiet varius. Duis tincidunt dolor nibh, ac interdum odio molestie vel. Cras dignissim enim at mi varius aliquet.
