This is the first academic course of its kind in Israel, dedicated to gender, sexuality and queer elements in the music of Africa and the Middle East.  

The course will examine the connection between music, culture, society and politics in the Middle East and Africa, from a gender and LGBTQ perspective. We will enlighten and discuss both queer elements in the traditions and history of the different cultural groups and spaces, as well as current musical spaces and LGBTQ communities.

The course is inter-disciplinary incorporating texts and ideas from various disciplines: African and Middle East studies, Ethnomusicology, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies and queer studies.

Some of the course's topic:

1. Understanding gender and sexuality in the African and Middle Eastern context

2. Religion, music and gender

3. Gender and sexuality in relation to trance and spirit possession in African and Afro-Diasporic religions, and in the Sufi world

4. Women's songs and musicmaking in different traditions

5. Homoerotic poetry and music making in the Moslem world

6. "Queer" as an aesthetic and structural context in African and Middle Eastern musical cultures

7. LGBTQ artists and expressions in contemporary music scenes in Africa and the Middle East.

8. Arabic and Mediterranean music in Israel and the LGBTQ community