Narrating the Self: Modern Arab Memoirs as Historical Texts

HIST 5906A: Narrating the Self: Modern Arab Memoirs as Historical Texts
Fall 2026

Instructor: Hussam R. Ahmed

Course Description:

This graduate seminar explores modern Arab memoirs as historical texts and literary expressions of selfhood. Through autobiographical writings by Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Arab authors, the course examines how individuals narrate their lives in relation to broader historical, political, and cultural contexts. The seminar engages critically with questions of narratability, identity, religion, gender, and sexuality, analyzing how memoirs function as sources for understanding modern Arab history as well as the construction of memory and meaning. Students will interrogate the memoir as a genre, its historical value, and its role in shaping and contesting narratives of modern Arab experience.

Organization:

This class will meet in person. It will be organized into three-hour seminars.