The Women and Memory Forum (WMF) collaborated with the Department of Library & Information Science at Kafr Elsheikh University to organize an intensive course entitled “Reading Heritage from a Gendered Perspective.” The course was held in the period from 03 to 07 March 2016, and targeted undergraduate students of the humanities and social sciences who are interested in history, heritage, and document studies.

The course was organized as part of the WMF’s educational project Gender Education Programs.

The WMF’s Gender Education Programs are conducted in collaboration with various Egyptian universities and research centers to introduce the participants to gender studies through academic lectures and practical applications on key concepts and topics in gender studies and gender theories across diverse disciplines and academic fields. The programs provide participants with theoretical and applied readings, as well as bibliographies, key references, and primary sources on gender issues in the humanities and social sciences.

Course objectives:

• Read and analyze selected texts and documents from a gender-sensitive perspective that considers the historical, social, and cultural construction of gender.
• Examine the historical representations of women and their presence in traditional sources.
• Analyze the different discourses in historical and religious texts and documents, and their impact on understanding women’s and gender issues between the past and the present.
• Discuss issues related to the process of historiography, the conditions of producing a historical text, and the impact of the social and political context as well as the voice of the historian on the production of history.
• Identify the shallow and erroneous uses of history and heritage against women’s rights.

Course agenda:

Thursday 03 March: Dr. Huda al-Saadi (Professor of Islamic History at the AUC)

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Introduction into reading types of historical sources.

12:00 PM – 12:30 PM: Break

12:30 PM – 02:00 PM: Applied readings (1)

Friday 04 March

10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Applied readings (2), Dr. Huda al-Saadi (AUC)

12:30 PM – 01:00 PM: Break

01:00 PM – 03:30 PM: Documentary readings, Dr. Magdi Gerges (Faculty of Arts, Kafr Elsheikh University)

Saturday 05 March: guided tour of al-Moez Street

Sunday 06 March: Reading religious texts

10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Jurisprudence texts and Qur’anic interpretations, Dr. Omaima Abu-Bakr (Professor of Comparative Literature, Cairo University)

12:30 PM – 01:00 PM: Break

01:00 PM – 03:30 PM: Christianity’s religious texts, Dr. Magdi Gerges

Monday 07 March

10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Sufi texts, Dr. Omaima Abu-Bakr

12:30 PM – 01:00 PM: Break

01:00 PM – 02:00 PM: General discussion. Evaluation and certificates