Guest Speakers for Women in the Middle East Group

Today we had two guest speakers come into class to discuss what life is like for women in Islam and the Middle East. I think Gular was a great speaker and she definitely knew a lot about how women are affected by the Quran in Islamic countries. I found it interesting how she came to the United States and why she decided to stay. Gulnar came to the United States in January of 1981 to come live in Kalamazoo with her husband who was a graduate student at Western. She said her family started from scratch and that she went to college for four years, but never dreamed of coming to U.S. to earn a higher degree because she couldn't imagine leaving her family. Once she married her husband in 1980, she decided to join him in the U.S. with both of them having every intention of coming back. She had her daughter in 1984 and soon started to settle into American life. When she would go back to Pakistan she began noticing the uncomfortable living conditions. Cold water showers and power outages, she soon became more inclined to stay in Kalamazoo. She realized that Kalamazoo had become her home. I also found it interesting that several of the 99 names for God are female-based. It definitely reinforced the idea that Islam is a pro-women religion. I liked how Gulnar said that she feels that Prophet Muhammed was one of the first feminists. She gave a lot of great information, but for it being my group I was very disappointed with how today went. I felt like it would have been more educational for the class if Gular were allowed the full amount of time to finish her presentation and to take maybe 30-40 minutes to answer questions and further a discussion. I think a lot of great questions would have come up because my peers are very insightful and a great discussion could have ensued. If we had maybe one more day, I would have had the second speaker come in another day then on a third day we could have compared the two different upbringings of these women. There was too much information to digest today much less have an educational class discussion. The discussion was significantly hindered by not allowing the speakers to fully answer questions. There was so much interruption I don't feel that students really got an inside look to what life is like for women living in the Middle East and Islam. I felt these women weren't given the respect or the time they deserved. Hopefully, the rest of our project will go better.