scholarly journals Veiled Constellations

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-146
Author(s):  
Megan MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Muslim Women ◽  
The Body ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Edward Said ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Iranian Studies ◽  
Canadian Council ◽  
The Veil ◽  
The University

The “Veiled Constellations: The Veil, Critical Theory, Politics, and ContemporarySociety” conference took place at York University’s Keele Campusand at the University of Toronto on 3-5 June 2010. Sponsors included theSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the TorontoInitiative for Iranian Studies, the Noor Cultural Centre, the Canadian Councilof Muslim Women, the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations,and multiple departments and associations at both universities. The two graduate students who co-organized the conference, Melissa Finn and ArshavezMozafari, did an excellent job in choosing papers that highlighted the veil’smulti-faceted appearances both in contemporary society and academic discoursesas something that is under-theorized and overlooked at the same time.The event’s advertising and signage played with the tropes of overwrittenand overlooked, suggesting that veiled women can be both silenced andsubjected to “therapeutic, punitive attention” (Edward Said, Covering Islam,xxxv-vi). For example, www.veiledconstellations.com shows two facelesswomen veiled in black, a torrent of water flooding the scene and pouring overthem and through the ovals where their faces should be. This serves as a kindof natural disaster or Armageddon trope on the body of Muslim women. Aprominent poster pictured a profiled woman wearing hijab, her face overwrittenwith overlapping Arabic words, while alternating pink lines radiatefrom behind her face, as if it were giving off light. A third poster offers thecommon image of the exotic woman behind-the-veil, a partial photo of awoman wearing niqab, her perfectly arched eyebrows perhaps challengingthe viewer to respond with the intrigued gaze, the desire to unveil her. Whilethese posters meant to undo tired images of Muslim women, their ambiguousnature sometimes reinforced those very stereotypes ...

scholarly journals Inscriptions

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-147
Author(s):  
Nergis Mazid
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Edward Said ◽  
Afghan Women ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Political Science Department ◽  
Mcgill University ◽  
The University

The irony was not lost that Toronto’s Colony Hotel was the site of theAMSS’ tribute to the late Edward Said, “Inscriptions: Decoding Politics,Gender and Culture in Epistemologies and Praxis,” held on November 27,2004. The first regional Canadian conference, cosponsored by the AMSS’ Canadian chapter and the University of Toronto’s political science department,featured eight sessions. A wide breadth of papers incorporated hisintellectual legacy, either directly through his critical frameworks, or indirectlythrough critiques developed from them. Gender, neo-conservativism,development, legal works of body, and Qur’anic hermenuetics were justsome of the issues discussed.Welcoming and opening remarks were offered by Jasmin Zine andMaliha Chisti, the conference’s cochairs; Paul Kingston, of the political sciencedepartment; and Beverly McCloud in absentia. Participants then splitinto two groups to attend concurrent sessions. Said’s legacy was presentedby Nahla Abdo (Carleton University, Canada), who discussed epistemology,diaspora, and identity, and Sedef Arat-Koc (Trent University, Canada),who examined imperial inscriptions, diasporic identifications, and visionsfor peaceful coexistence. The concurrent session, “Afghan Women, War,and Ideologies of Conflict,” featured papers on ground realities inAfghanistan and the neo-conservative agenda that drove American politicaldecisions.Maliha Chisti (University of Toronto, Canada) and ChesmakFarhoumand-Sims (York University, Canada) examined the trends andimpact of the transnational movement and global sisterhood on programmingfor Afghani women. Relating their experience with capacity-buildingprograms for Afghani women, they conveyed how larger aid agencies usedstereotypical epithets that ignored the long legacy of indigenous women’sactivism and prioritized formally educated, westernized women. FaizaHirji (Carelton University, Canada) examined the perpetuation of stereotypesof Muslim women in The New York Times (US), The Globe andMail (Canada), and Dawn, Pakistan’s largest English daily. While the twowestern papers conveyed tropes of veiled Muslim women in need of rescue,Dawn, due to its proximity to Afghanistan, flagged that country’ssociopolitical and religious complexities by situating women, Islam, andthe Northern Alliance. James Esdail (McGill University, Canada) examinedthe neoconservative movement in American foreign policy and concludedthat although no longer overt, imperialism and Orientalist tropesstill permeate this movement ...

scholarly journals Cosmopolitan Islamic Identity and Thought

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-160
Author(s):  
Christopher Cutting
Keyword(s):  
Muslim Women ◽  
The Body ◽  
Keynote Address ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Regional Conference ◽  
Islamic Identity ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Veil ◽  
British Culture

The Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) held its Third AnnualCanadian Regional Conference on “Cosmopolitan Islamic Identity andThought” on 24 November 2007 at Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo,ON). Opening the event with her keynote address, “Consumption andCosmopolitanism: The Veil, The Body, The Law,” Reina Lewis (Universityof East London) pointed out that in British culture, cosmopolitanism has notyet appropriated the Muslim veil as a desirable object of fashion consumptionfor the majority society, although Muslim women have appropriatedand indigenized some western fashions. However, this does not prevent themajority society from making interpretive “readings” of the veil relative todominant fashion cultures and participating in neo-Orientalist discourses.Despite the (shockingly) recent British legislation of 2003 that finallyexplicitly forbids religious discrimination, some recent prominent publicdiscourse on the veil in Britain has turned its attention to the issue of faceveiling as a potentially insidious fashion practice, arguing essentially (anduncritically) that visibility is equal to transparency, integrity, and truth ...

Think tank on school-aged children: nutrition and physical activity to prevent the rise in obesity

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rena Mendelson
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Regulatory Affairs ◽  
Canadian Council ◽  
Role Of Parents ◽  
The University

The rise in childhood obesity has generated concern across a range of sectors. Stakeholders and experts in the area of children’s health met at a Think Tank in Toronto organized by the Canadian Council for Food and Nutrition and the Program in Food Safety, Nutrition, and Regulatory Affairs at the University of Toronto to discuss the current evidence in place to inform the development of school policies to reduce childhood obesity. Although there is some evidence to suggest that school interventions may reduce obesity in children, there are other examples of programs that have had very little impact. The role of parents in the development of healthy eating and physical activity patterns is critical from the earliest stages of life and warrants further attention. Delegates agreed that we need ongoing input of experts and leaders from all sectors and fields to help us to effectively promote healthy lifestyles at schools and within the home, while respecting each child's need for safety, security, and respect.

Is the Law Empowering or Patronizing Women? The Dilemma in the French Burqa Decision as the Tip of the Secular Law Iceberg

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noemi Gal-Or
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
The Body ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Entire Body ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Female Population ◽  
The Veil ◽  
Mainstream Society

The article analyses a French seminal legal award which served as a stepping stone in the recent French debate concerning the legislation banning women from wearing the Burqa headscarf in public. Under this wording—Burqa—a special style of the hijab—a scarf donned by Muslim women—is being targeted. It represents a more extreme form of covering: The Burqa is worn by the Pashtun women of Pakistan and in Afghanistan and covers the body from head to toes in a continuous piece of fabric, whereas the veil banned in France also includes the niqab which may or may not cover the entire body, and allows visibility of the eyes but not the entire face. In the relevant debate, gender equality has been the banner hoisted by court and parliamentarians purporting to protect women against the unsettling impact of the Burqa. This article represents a critical study of this claim. The article describes and analyses the ambivalent tenor of the Burqa Decision and arrives at two main conclusions. First, having distinguished two key values addressed (directly and indirectly) by the Conseil d’État—equality and freedom—the article concludes that although hailed as defying gender discrimination, the judgment must also be construed as contributing to inequality among women. The award remains just as unclear in regards to the protection of freedom of religious expression suggesting that women equality offers only one among other explanations for this ruling. Second, the article’s analysis applies several feminist approaches to the Burqa Decision and finds that the pluralist feminist discourse results in different and inconsistent potential resolutions to the case. The upshot is that the Burqa Decision, which was taken as a strong condemnation of a practise said to be symbolising the subjugation of the female to male domination, was confirming a view espoused largely by Western secular women. In doing so, and given the approval by France’s mainstream society, the award appears to have empowered this particular segment in the female population. At the same time however, the tribunal also stated the obvious namely, that gender equality has been serving as a powerful tool in the adjudicative struggle between secularism and religion. While women’s struggle for gender equality, especially in politics and the economy, has been protracted and not yet fully achieved, the comparatively brief and hurried commitment to gender equality at the intersection of religion and secularism, suggest that gender equality was not the only priority on the adjudicator’s mind, hence is not necessarily the ultimate winner of this award.

Animating the Anatomical Specimen: Regional Dissection and the Incorporation of Photography in J.C.B. Grant’s An Atlas of Anatomy

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Sawchuk
Keyword(s):  
Medical Training ◽  
Gross Anatomy ◽  
The Body ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Anatomical Specimen ◽  
Modes Of Representation ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

In 1943 Dr J.C.B. Grant, of the University of Toronto, published the first anatomical atlas ever fully produced in North America, An Atlas of Anatomy. Within the history of biomedical teaching, the publication of this textbook is remarkable for at least two reasons, both connected to the themes of animation and automation. The visual narrative of the anatomical body found in Grant’s Atlas encapsulated a paradigmatic shift in gross anatomy from a systemic approach (dividing the body into its systems) to a regional anatomy (dividing the body into areas containing interlocking systems). The contextually contingent reasons for this shift in medical training are represented in the production of this textbook. What is crucial is that anatomy is thus conceived as directly applicable to surgical practice, which intervenes on the bodies of the living, rather than the dead. The second important dimension of Grant’s Atlas was his rigorous, yet invisible, incorporation of photography into the practice of medical illustration. Grant’s Atlas systematically deployed hand-drawn tracings of photographic images in the production of his bestselling textbook to affirm an indexical connection to a ‘real body’. At the same time, this use of photography is erased within the visuals, which rely instead on hand-drawn illustrations (line-drawings and carbon-dusting) to produce this particular pedagogy of the anatomical body. The production of ‘textbook anatomy’ is thus articulated to changes in technical modes of representation (photography) and to the new techniques in print-technologies from the late 19th until the mid 20th century.

scholarly journals Eighteenth Annual Conference of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 148-150
Author(s):  
Sharon Hoosein
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Philosophical Question ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Founding Member ◽  
Local Chapter ◽  
Canadian Council ◽  
Set Up

"Strengthening Our Voices" was a fitting topic for the most recent CanadianCouncil of Muslim Women (CCMW) conference held on September 13-15,2002, at the Bank of Montreal Learning Institute, Markham, Ontario,Canada. This national organization, with chapters across Canada, wasfounded in 1982 when Muslim women from across Canada attended thefounding conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This year's conference celebrated20 years of leadership and "working towards equity, equality, andempowerment." Lila Falhman, a founding member and now 78 years old,was on hand to commemorate the event. Other founding members, currentCCMW president Barbara Siddiqui, and many local chapter leaders alsowere present. The Bank of Montreal Learning Institute in Markham was theperfect venue, for it allowed almost 300 people to hear the keynote speakers.Tables were set up for silent auction and sales of the latest books byFarid £sack, Sadia Zaman, and Khaled Abou El Fad!.The invited keynote speaker, Beverly Amina McCloud, professor at DePaul University, (Chicago, IL) unfortunately could not attend. Graciouslytaking her place, however, was Sheila McDonough, professor of religion atConcordia University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and author of therecently released The Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates(University of Toronto Press: 2002.) She engaged the audience in a livelydiscussion of the philosophical question "Can a Muslim Woman Think?"She logically argued that genetics are evenly distributed to offspring, so thatwomen receive intellect from both parents; that children think as they learn;and that, in general, all homo sapiens are thinking creatures. She used severalQur'anic verses to demonstrate that God addresses women as a groupseparately from men and also stressed that everyone is responsible for hisor her own actions on the Day of Judgment ...

scholarly journals Jilbab Sebagai Etika Busana Muslimah dalam Perspektif Al-Qur’an

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-170
Author(s):  
Ratna Wijayanti
Keyword(s):  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
The Body ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Entire Body ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language Analysis ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Veil ◽  
Holy Book

Al Qur'an is the holy book of Islam, in which there are many rules of Allah, one of which is the rule about the ethics of Muslim women wearing Jilbab. God's command of the veil contained in the Qur'an always begins with the words of a believing woman. this phrase shows how the hijab's position is based on the faithful women. According to Abdul A'la Al-Maududi as quoted by Quraish Shihab, the basis of all forms of obedience and obedience in Islam is Faith. It is clear that it is faith alone that simply binds a person to remain obedient, obedient to the law of God in all their affairs of life. Therefore, Islam first teaches mankind to believe and strengthen the faith to be imprinted in the hearts of men. It is implanted earlier before taught related to worship, muamalah and morals including in it are morally dressed or veiled contained in al-Qur'an and Al-Hadith. From historical analysis, munasabah analysis, and language analysis of the veil it can be concluded that the veil in general is a wide, loose, and covering the entire body. Meanwhile, the commentators differ on the meaning of "Let them stretch out their veils to their whole bodies." Among their interpretations of the verse are: covering his face and head, and only showing his left eye; cover the entire body and half the face by showing both eyes; and extend the cloth to cover the head to the chest. Thus, we can know that commentators from the past until now have agreed that the hijab is a religious duty for women. They agree on the obligation to wear the hijab and differ on the meaning of extending the veil: whether it extends throughout the body except one eye, extends to the whole body except for two eyes, or extends to the whole body except the face.

Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 611-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rivanne Sandler
Keyword(s):  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Iranian Studies ◽  
The University
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document