Susanna Ferguson

I am a historian of women and gender in the Arab world and Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies at Smith College. My first book, Formative Years: Gender, Childrearing, and Democracy in the Arab East, traces the history of the concept of upbringing, or tarbiya in Arabic, through journals written and edited by women. Highlighting the analytic potential of an Arabic concept theorized by women, it reframes histories of gender, progress, and democracy in the Arab world and beyond. Other research interests include the history of education and schooling; the history of representative politics and ideas of justice in the Arab world; and the history of science and the sexed body.

Office: Seelye Hall 305

e-mail: sferguson06@smith.edu