THE VEIL: Women Writers on Its History, Lore & Politics

CONTRIBUTORS

KECIA ALI is Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University. She received her PhD in Religion (Islamic Studies) from Duke University and has held research and teaching fellowships at Brandeis University and Harvard Divinity School.  She is the author of Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence and has published in scholarly and popular journals and in various collections, including Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism and Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith. Her primary research interests center on 9^th -century Islamic law. She is completing a book titled Marriage, Gender, and Ownership in Early Islamic Jurisprudence and is also working on a biography of the jurist al-Shafi'i. http://www.bu.edu/religion/faculty/bios/ali.html

MICHELLE AUERBACH’s work has been seen most recently in Van Gogh’s Ear, Bombay Gin, Xcp, Chelsea, and The American Drivel Review. She is the author of the historical novella Alice Modern (Excessive Poetics Press, 2005).  She lives and teaches writing and literature in Colorado where she received her MFA from Naropa University and is chair of Humanities at Front Range Community College.

SARAH C. BELL is a painter and comic book artist in San Francisco, author of La Niña: Urban Fairy Tales, a collection of autobiographical comix. She illustrated El Repelente (Or the Anti Nuke Antics with Anabela), a graphic novel by Jennifer Heath, has created comix for numerous zines and newspapers and has illustrated a variety of book and CD covers. Her work, for which she has been the recipient of five arts grants, has been exhibited in diverse venues – from alternative to mainstream spaces. She is currently working toward her MFA. The second volume of La Niña is forthcoming.

BARBARA GOLDMAN CARRELis Adjunct Assistant Professor at the City University of New York.  She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Anthropology from New York University, and an MA in Library Science from Drexel University.  Her research on Hasidic women’s dress bridges scholarly investigations into fashion and ethnic dress in an attempt to reveal ethnic and religious significance in mass-produced fashion—how fashion is appropriated (both physically and ideologically) in order to promote ethnic or religious principles, distinctions, and identity. 

EVE GRUBIN is the author of Morning Prayer (Sheep Meadow Press, 2005), a book of poems. Her poems and essays have appeared in many publications including the American Poetry Review, the American Jewish Congress Monthly, the Forward, the New Republic, and the Virginia Quarterly Review. She teaches poetry at The New School and at the City College of New York, where she was also the Marvin and Edward Kaplan Lecturer in Jewish Studies in 2007. She is pursuing her PhD in English Literature at the City University of New York and she is the poetry editor at nextbook.org and a senior editor at Lyric Poetry Review. She writes for modestlyyours.net, has studied at Medreshet Rachel v'Chaya College of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, and she was a fellow at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education from 2005-2007. http://blogs.modestlyyours.net/modestly_yours/eve_grubin/index.html

ROXANNE KAMAYANI GUPTA, Ph.D. has been living, dancing, writing and teaching between East and West since 1973 when she first traveled to India to study Indian Classical Dance and Religion.   She is the author of A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance: The Yogini’s Mirror and numerous scholarly articles and chapters.  She has taught Religious Studies, Anthropology, and South Asian Studies at several colleges in the United States and has led study tours in India.  She is an initiate of both Kriya yoga and Sri Vidya tantra and has taught yoga since 1974.   She currently teaches at her studio, “Earthdance Centre for Body, Spirit, and Nature,” in Romulus, New York. http://fp.enter.net/~rgupta/adishakti.htm

JANA HAWLEY is head of the department of apparel, textiles and interior design in the College of Human Ecology at Kansas State University and formerly an Associate Professor in the Department of Textile and Apparel Management at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She earned her Masters from Oklahoma State University and her Ph.D. at the University of Missouri.  Her areas of research include Textile Recycling, E-Commerce, and the Old Order Amish. She has published several manuscripts about Amish business practices and articles on their quilts. She serves on the Executive Board and is Associated Faculty for the Center for the Digital Globe, is an International Advisory for the Kyoto Fiber Recycling conference and serves as Vice President of Operations on the International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA). http://www.humec.ksu.edu/directory/listings/hawleyj/

JENNIFER HEATH is an award-winning arts journalist, editor and the author of eight books of fiction and non-fiction, including The Scimitar and the Veil: Extraordinary Women of Islam, Black Velvet: The Art We Love to Hate (from a traveling art exhibition of the same name), A House White With Sorrow: A Ballad for Afghanistan, On the Edge of Dream: The Women of Celtic Myth and Legend, and The Echoing Green: The Garden in Myth and Memory.  Her traveling art exhibition, The Veil: Visible & Invisible Spaces, was conceived to examine visual artists’ responses to the themes and issues highlighted in The Veil: Women Writers on Its History, Lore, and Politics.  She grew up around the world and is the founder of Seeds for Afghanistan and the Afghanistan Relief Organization Midwife Training and Infant Care Program. www.jenniferheath.com

JASBIR JAIN is Professor Emeritus Fellow at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. A translator, editor, and writer, she has authored several books, including BeyondPostcolonialism: Dreams and Realities of a Nation(2006) and Gendered Realities, Human Spaces: The Novels of Shashi Deshpande (2003).  Jain is interested in the history of ideas and cultural aspects of epistemology and is currently engaged in researching the indigenous roots of feminism. http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Jasbir+Jain&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=author-navigational&hl=en

MOHJA KAHF is an associate professor of comparative literature at the University of Arkansas and author of Western Representations of the Muslim Woman from Termagant to Odalisque and "Braiding the Stories: Women's Eloquence in the Early Islamic Era" in Windows of Faith: Muslim Women's Scholarship and Activism, edited by Gisela Webb. Her poetry book, E-mails from Scheherazad, was a finalist in the 2004 Paterson Poetry Prize. Winner of an Arkansas Arts Council award, she writes fiction on MuslimWakeUp.com's "Sex and the Ummah" column. Her novel, Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, was published in 2006.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100301968.html

DÉSIRÉE G. KOSLIN holds a PHD in Art History from New York University and is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor in Fashion and Textile Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology. In addition, she is an artist whose work has been exhibited at New York’s SOHO20 Chelsea Gallery. Her many publications include entries in Encyclopedia on Gender in the Middle Ages, Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, and Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia, essays in the Journal of the International Association of Costume and the Catalogue of the Dubrovnik Synagogue Textile Collection, Yeshiva University Art Museum, as well as numerous anthologies, such as Disentangling Textiles, Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture and Sacred and Ceremonial Textiles, Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America. She is co-editor, with Janet E. Snyder of Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress: Objects, Texts, Images (Palgrave McMillan, 2002). www.soho20gallery.com/exhibit/koslin/koslin_imgs.htm

LAURENE LAFONTAINE is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and an ordained Presbyterian Church (USA) minister at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Denver, Colorado.  She taught courses in Advanced Placement European History, 20^th Century World History and Great Ideas in Religion at St. Mary’s Academy and coordinated the Community Service Program. She is a co-member-in-process with the Sisters of Loretto, has directed the AIDS/HIV Interfaith Network and the Voices of Faith program for GLBT civil rights with Equality Colorado, and served as hospital chaplain at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Hospital and the University of Colorado Health Science Center.  

SHIREEN MALIK is a multicultural dance artist and independent researcher, focusing primarily on traditions of Spain, Hawaii, and areas of the Middle East. A performer, instructor, and choreographer, she has received support for her work from the Colorado Scientific and Cultural Facilities District and Boulder Arts Commission. She graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in the combined fields of anthropology, psychology, sociology. http://www.shireenmalik.com/

MALIHA MASOOD was born in Karachi, Pakistan. She came to the United States at the age of twelve and grew up in Seattle, Washington. Her essays and commentaries on Islam, gender, and spirituality have been featured in Asia Times, Al-Ahram Weekly, and several anthologies. Maliha appeared in and co-wrote an award-winning documentary film, Nazrah, A Muslim Woman’s Perspective. She is also the founder of Diwaan a cultural institute and theater collective addressing the American-Muslim experience. A graduate of Tufts University with a Master's in Law and Diplomacy, Maliha has worked in her native Pakistan as a development consultant and continues to do independent research in human rights and Islamic law. She is the author of the travel memoir, Zaatar Days, Henna Nights: Adventures, Dreams and Destinations across the Middle East, published by Seal Press in February 2007. Her website is www.maliha-masood.com 

MARJANE SATRAPI was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She grew up in Tehran, where she studied at the Lycee Français before leaving for Vienna and then going to Strasbourg to study illustration. She currently lives in Paris, where her illustrations appear regularly in newspapers and magazines. Her graphic novels include Persepolis, Persepolis 2, Embroideries, and Chicken With Plums. Her animated film, Persepolis¸ was nominated for a 2008 Academy Award. She is also the author of several children's books. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjane_Satrapi

AISHA LEE FOX SHAHEED has a master’s degree in history from McGill University with an emphasis on gender, culture, and colonialism.  Keen on exploring the histories of Muslim women, she co-authored Great Ancestors: Women Asserting Rights in Muslim Contexts a publication on women’s activism in various Muslim communities.  She is also an active networker with the transnational solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws.  Born in Pakistan and raised between Canada and England, her  mixed ethnic and religious heritage has shaped her personal and professional life.  A freelance writer, she enjoys journalism, academic research, and spoken-word poetry. 

RITA STEPHAN is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is an assistant instructor. She is also a lecturer at St. Edwards University where she teaches Women in the Third World, Islam and Race, Class and Gender. She is a research fellow at the American University of Beirut and Notre Dame University, Lebanon. Her publications include articles in The Encyclopedia of Modern Middle East and North Africa, Hawwa Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World, and al Raeda Journal of the Institute for the Studies of Arab Women at the Lebanese American University. https://webspace.utexas.edu/ratrouta/RitaStephan.pdf

PAMELA K. TAYLOR is a writer and public speaker of wide-ranging interests, director of the Islamic Writers Alliance and co-founder of Muslims for Progressive Values. She has published numerous short stories, personal essays, poetry, news articles, and opinion pieces in the mainstream and Muslim presses. From poetry readings to story telling sessions to presentations on Islam, she tries to show the human side of Muslims.  She received her BA from Dartmouth College and a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She currently has a science fiction novel under consideration by DAW Books, and is working on her second manuscript. You may find more of Pamela's writings at her blog, www.pktaylor.com/pksblog/warpedgalaxies.html, or at On Faith, http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/pamela_k_taylor 

ASHRAF ZAHEDI, PhD, is a sociologist and an affiliated scholar at Beatrice Bain Research Group at the University of California Berkeley.  She has taught at Boston University, Suffolk University, and Santa Clara University.  She has conducted research at many universities including the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Stanford University. She has served as the Commissioner of Human Relations of Santa Clara County, California, and chaired the Santa Clara County Network for a Hate Free Community, which she initiated. She is the recipient of “Special Congressional Recognition” from the United States House of Representatives and is currently co-editing a book about women of Afghanistan in the post-9/11 era with Jennifer Heath.  She is a native of Iran.

DINAH ZEIGER teaches media ethics and journalism at the University of Idaho. She completed her PhD at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Colorado-Boulder while working as adjunct faculty in the University of Denver’s Department of Mass Communications & Journalism Studies. She was a business reporter and editor for various newspapers and wire services in the U.S. and Europe for more than 20 years, and most recently has published extensively as an arts critic.

SHERIFA ZUHUR is currently Research Professor of Islamic and Regional Studies at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. She has been a faculty member or researcher at various universities including MIT, University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA.  She is the author of twelve books and monographs including Revealing Reveiling: Islamist Gender Ideology in Contemporary Egypt and Colors of Enchantment: Theater, Dance, Music, and the Visual Arts of the Middle East.

Alida Jay Boye is Coordinator of the Mali Program at the University of Oslo 1989 to 1999, Initiator and Coordinator of the Timbuktu Manuscripts Project at the Centre for Development and the Environment. http://www.sum.uio.no/research/mali/timbuktu/news.html

Megan Brusca grew up in St. Charles, Missouri. She is currently attending the University of Missouri and will graduate in December 2006 with a Bachelors of Science in Textile & Apparel Management. She has been drawing since she was a child.

Valari Jack has been a portrait and documentary photographer for twenty-five years.  Her work has always been concerned with capturing the mystery and possibility in people and their lives. Her photo “At Vespers” is one image from a project documenting the lives of a community of Benedictine nuns near Boulder, Colorado, in 1987-88. Her photographs are also part of The Veil: Visible & Invisible Spaces – a traveling art exhibition.

Virginia Maitland (Cover Image) is a highly acclaimed, award-winning abstract artist, living in Colorado. She graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she began with academic training in the tradition of Mary Cassatt and Thomas Eakins. There, under the influence of the 1960s art school experience, she soon moved toward abstraction, influenced by abstract expressionism, surrealism, and color field painting. Maitland’s painting seduce through the beauty of pure pain, vivid colors, and illusory spaces. The experience of light, space, and color in nature has been an enduring inspiration. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and is in myriad public and private collections. http://www.virginiamaitland.com/  

Dan Piraro is a surrealist painter, illustrator and cartoonist best-known for his award-winning syndicated panel cartoon, Bizarro. He has received the National Cartoonist Society Panel Cartoon Award for 1999, 2000, and 2001, and been nominated for their Reuben Award several times. Since 2001, he has toured the U.S. with various forms of a one-man comedy show called, "The Bizarro Baloney Show." The show won the 2002 New York International Fringe Festival award for "Best Solo Show."  His many books include Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro (2006) and The Three Little Pigs Buy the White House (2004). http://www.bizarro.com/  

Maureen Selwood is on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts, in the Experimental Animation Department, is a leading figure in American Independent animation and has participated in a series of installations and performances. Her newest work, As The Veil Lifts, is a large-scale installation using animation and the voice of a woman performing a song of loss and suffering caused by the effects of war. Her latest film, Mistaken Identity, is an experimental narrative using archival footage from Robert Aldrich's noir Kiss Me Deadly. She has been a recipient of grants from the John Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, The Jerome Foundation, The American Film Institute and a visiting artist residency at the MacDowell Colony. In 2002-03, she was a recipient of the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. Megan Cotts is Selwood’s daughter and sometime collaborator. http://www.calarts.edu/faculty_bios/filmvideo/faculty/maureenselwood/maureenselwood

Sheryl Shapiro is a freelance photographer based in Boulder, Colorado. Her passion is photographing indigenous people living traditional lifestyles. She has traveled extensively in the developing world, including Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia, Tibet, Pakistan, Cuba, and China. Her  images and stories reflect the humanity and dignity of her subjects, as well as the kindness and hospitality of the people she encounters. Her work has been published in Practical Horseman, the Melbourne Herald Sun, and the Brisbane Sunday Mail, to name a few. She teaches courses on independent third-world travel and presents educational slide shows of her journeys for public and private audiences. www.sherylshapiro.com