REL 263: Ethnography of Religion (with Dr. Courtney Dorroll)

"Contains approximately three thousand alphabetically arranged entries that provide information about significant people, places, and events in the history of the Middle East and North Africa since 1800, and includes maps, genealogies, a glossary, and an index"--Publisher's description.

"Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East contains encyclopedic entries arranged alphabetically within ethno-linguistic classifications. Each entry has four main sections: an introduction identifying the language group, where they are found, and their numbers; a brief discussion of their origins and early history; a section on cultural life that includes religion, literature, social organization, and art; and a final section on political organization and recent history"--Publisher's description.

This comprehensive Handbook gives an overview of the political, social, economic and legal dimensions of citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa from the nineteenth century to the present. The terms citizen and citizenship are mostly used by researchers in an off-hand, self-evident manner. A citizen is assumed to have standard rights and duties that everyone enjoys. However, citizenship is a complex legal, social, economic, cultural, ethical and religious concept and practice. Since the rise of the modern bureaucratic state, in each country of the Middle East and North Africa, citizenship has developed differently. In addition, rights are highly differentiated within one country, ranging from privileged, underprivileged, and discriminated citizens to non-citizens. Through its dual nature as instrument of state control, as well as a source of citizen rights and entitlements, citizenship provides crucial insights into state-citizen relations and the services the state provides, as well as the way citizens respond to these actions. This volume focuses on five themes that cover the crucial dimensions of citizenship in the region: Historical trajectory of citizenship since the nineteenth century until independence -- Creation of citizenship from above by the state -- Different discourses of rights and forms of contestation developed by social movements and society -- Mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion -- Politics of citizenship, nationality and migration.

Illuminates the lives of the most influential, popular, and controversial figures in the Middle East and North Africa who came to prominence during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Includes profiles of contemporary leaders who belong to various political, ethnic, and religious groups, as well as notable individuals associated with business, law, science, social issues, sports, entertainment, literature, and the fine and performing arts.

"The overriding theme of this work is that women's struggles, human rights, myths, and literary expression are indispensable to an understanding of the modern culture and socio-political development of the Middle East region. The work demonstrates that no aspect of Middle Eastern history or modern evolution was shaped in isolation of women's lives and contributions to society. The dictionary covers the biographies and written work of prominent historical female figures in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as 20th-century feminists, both male and female, who advanced women's rights over many years. Includes a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and a dictionary section that has over 400 cross-referenced entries on various aspects of Middle Eastern feminism and culture, touching upon religious themes such as Sharia laws, Islamic marriage, divorce, and inheritance practices"--Publisher's description.

Online reference library providing access to a large number of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and other reference books. Subjects covered include art, biography, history, political science, literature, music, religion, science, and technology.