Monica Marks

What does it mean to identify as a "feminist" or an "Islamist" in the MENA region today, and to what extent are those terms philosophically and politically compatible? Is feminism itself - and movements for gender equality and LGBTQ rights in the region more broadly - a legacy of colonialism and Western influence/ intervention? Or do such movements have local, organic roots expressed through Islamic texts and history, and even Islamist forms of political activism? How can we appraise the track record of so-called Islamist movements (e.g.: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey's AK Parti, Tunisia's Ennahdha Party, and Morocco's Freedom and Justice Party and Al-Adl wal Ihsan movement) on promoting women's rights and gender inclusivity in comparison to states, secularly oriented political movements, and jihadist movements in the region? Students in this course will explore these questions by critically engaging with historical texts and country case studies, in addition to materials produced by and about feminist, Islamic, and Islamist actors.

The capstone seminar is designed as a workshop offering graduating seniors a communal environment in which to conceptualize, share and refine a year-long research project, self-designed in consultation with a faculty advisor. In this semester, particular attention will be paid to the organization and practice of research as well as evidence, method and scholarly habit and process. The fall semester culminates in the presentation of significant writing (at least 20 pages/6000 words) toward the final scholarly product, the written and publicly presented capstone. Each student should also be working with their faculty advisor throughout the semester, submitting drafts to their advisor and working with her/him on the research process.

Prerequisite: Declared Arab Crossroads Studies major and senior standing

Inspired by the French Enlightenment, "secularism" has come to represent non-religious approaches to morality and socio-political life. This course draws on multiple disciplines - including history, philosophy, fine arts, and political science - to explore secularism's multiple meanings and manifestations. Does secularism have core values and, if so, how do those differ from religious values? What are secularism's origins, and is it fundamentally Western? How do philosophical approaches commonly associated with secularism (e.g., humanism, agnosticism, and atheism) differ, and how have such paradigms influenced knowledge-production and human rights norms? In addition to exploring these far-reaching questions, students will compare the specificities of secular mobilization and governance worldwide: How does secular governance in China and Russia differ from models in the United States, France, India, and Turkey? Is there a positive correlation between secularization and economic development, increased religious diversity, or broader access to education? What interrelationships exist between secularization and democratization? Is any contemporary society truly secular?

Prerequisite: Must be an NYU Abu Dhabi student and have not completed the Core: Colloquium requirement.

3 credits

Behind the Nobel Peace Prize: First-Hand Explorations of Conflict Resolution: How can the world’s thorniest, most intractable conflicts be resolved? How can autocracies become democracies, or war crimes and ethnic cleansing give way to justice and peaceful coexistence? Does gender contribute to conflict resolution, and what is the role of psychology in peacebuilding? Questions like these have long been debated by scholars, conflict analysts and peace practitioners. This course offers a rare opportunity to hear responses to these and related questions from dozens of renowned peace practitioners mediating the world's largest conflicts. Guided by a key participant in the peace negotiations post-Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution of 2011, students will acquire many first-hand practical insights into the dimensions and challenges of peace mediation. Through class discussions, role-playing, interactions with peace practitioners, and conflict mediation exercises, students learn the importance of deep listening, dialogue, and storytelling as critical tools for creating spaces conducive to conflict resolution and peacemaking.

This course will be offered in January-Term 2025 in Abu Dhabi.

What is the "war on terrorism" - a concept made famous by the United States' response to the September 11, 2001 attacks - and how is this war, which has become a key feature of international relations in the decades since, different from other wars? Who defines what constitutes a terrorist, what differentiates terrorism from legitimate resistance and contestation, and what political factors drive its continuation, as well as its demise? This course invites students to probe these controversial questions by anchoring their understanding in the most cutting-edge research on these debates. The course explores the USA's experience in combatting and fomenting terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq post-9/11. It also immerses students in globally diverse comparative case studies - including Spain, Ireland, Israel-Palestine, South Africa, the Gulf, right-wing terrorism in the USA and Europe and left-wing terrorism in Peru and Colombia - that encourage them to critically parse patterns in combatting real and alleged terrorism. What strategic, conceptual, and political achievements versus mistakes have been made across those experiences? And how are those lessons shaping international responses to terrorism in emerging domains such as AI and cybercrime?

This seminar-style course constitutes a comparative study of the post-colonial politics of the North African region - specifically the states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Through a combination of intensive reading, in-class discussion, and writing, students will develop an in-depth understanding of the politics in these four individual states and comparisons between them. The first part of the course focuses on essential aspects of North African politics across the four countries, including post-independence nation-building, the role of the military, Islamist movements, and Berber movements. The second dives into the political dynamics that have shaped, and in some cases transformed, politics in North Africa during and since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

This seminar-style course introduces students to the most important principles and practical tools of qualitative research on politics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It aims to prepare students to undertake their own, high-quality original research on MENA politics using one or more qualitative methods.