Georgetown SFS-Q Professor Amira Sonbol’s New Book Gulf Women Details History of Arab Women

With the publication of the groundbreaking book Gulf Women, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) Professor Amira Sonbol has continued her contribution to documenting the history and lives of Arab and Muslim women. Published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP), this robust volume of 15 essays by 12 contributors is edited by Sonbol and successfully presents a multifaceted history of women in the Gulf, both before and after Islam. To commemorate the publication of Gulf Women, SFS-Q and BQFP will be holding a launch event at Georgetown on January 15, 2013 at 6:00pm.

The book’s foreword, written by Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, is an engaging description of her own quest for research to help counter misconceptions about women in the region. From there, the book’s chapters create a timeline that guides the reader through the ancient, the medieval, the early modern and the contemporary periods of Arabian Gulf history.

“This extraordinary collection of essays takes us through key aspects and stages of women’s history and is a pathbreaking contribution to the history and sociology of the region,” said Dean Gerd Nonneman of Georgetown University’s SFS-Q. “Professor Sonbol and her colleagues from Qatar, the Gulf and beyond have produced an exemplar of academic collaboration, in an excellent example of SFS-Q’s commitment to enhancing regional knowledge and promoting the highest-quality research.”

Professor Sonbol said, “I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on this important project and I feel fortunate for all the talent of the contributors.” She added, “The search for sources, the verification of historical records, and the tremendous skills that went into this project made it a successful team effort that has resulted in a valuable resource.” In addition to editing the book, Sonbol wrote a chapter for the book titled “The Family in Gulf History.”

The books boasts an international roster of contributors, many of whom are on faculty at universities in Qatar and the wider region– including Professors Hatoon Al-Fassi, Moneera al-Ghadeer, and Ramadan al-Khowli. “We are very proud to publish this groundbreaking book within our growing academic list. The book is available worldwide as a physical book and an ebook. Furthermore, we have already succeeded in selling rights to UK and US academic and university publishers, too.” Hanouf Al Buainain, Director of Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing.

SFS-Q Associate Professor Amira El-Zein, who wrote the chapter “Love Discourse in Hijazi Society Under the Umayyads: A Study in Class and Gender,” said “I was delighted to contribute to this major scholarly book, the first of its kind, and to be part of recording the rich historical legacy of the region.”