Interactive seminar ‘Women Who Resist: Narratives of Defiance Across Borders’
Thursday April 2, 2026
10-12 hrs
In this seminar “Women Who Resist: Narratives of Defiance Across Borders” Dr. Shokhan Mohammed Fatah will explore how women writers use literature as a powerful tool of resistance across diverse social, political, and cultural contexts. Beginning with Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960), the seminar examines her celebration of Black womanhood and African American folklore as acts of cultural and narrative resistance against racial and gendered erasure.
Moving to Nawal El Saadawi (1931–2021), it highlights her fearless challenge to patriarchy and state oppression.
Finally, Choman Hardi (b. 1974) is discussed for her poetry that documents Kurdish women’s experiences of statelessness, war, and exile, demonstrating national and gendered resistance through literary expression. By comparing these three authors, the seminar illuminates the varied forms of women’s literary resistance and the ways writing empowers and transforms silenced voices across borders.
Prof. Shahrzad Mojab will act as respondent.
This seminar is jointly organized by the Contesting Governance Platform, the Gender, Diversity and Global Justice Platform and the NOG.
Readings:
- Hurston, Zora Neale. (1937). Their Eyes Were Watching God (Utrecht University Library or ask nog@uu.nl)
- El Saadawi, Nawal. (1987). “Nobody Told Her” (short story in her book She has no place in paradise ; ask nog@uu.nl)
- Hardi, Choman. (2015). Selected poems from Considering the Women. Bloodaxe Books (link).
- Fatah, Shokhan Mohammed. (2026). “Constructing gender through silence: Patriarchal power in Nawal El-Saadawi’s “Nobody Told Her.” (link) Women’s Studies International Forum 114, January-February 2026.
These readings introduce the key themes of voice, gendered silence, cultural memory, and transnational resistance that the lecture will explore comparatively.
Biography:
Dr. Shokhan Mohammed Fatah is Assistant Professor of English Literature at Charmo University, Kurdistan Region–Iraq. She holds a PhD in English Literature and has over a decade of experience in research and teaching at different universities. Her work focuses on literature, postcolonial, gender, and cultural studies. She has published widely and presented her research internationally across Europe (UK, Greece, Czech Republic, France) and the Middle East.
This seminar is open to everybody, but RMA students and PhD candidates studying at a university in the Netherlands can earn 1 ECTS by attending this seminar, the Doing Gender Lecture by Shahrzad Mojab and the film screening Guerrilla Archive (April 1).
Details interactive seminar
Date: Thursday April 2, 2026
Time: 10 – 12 hrs
Location: Janskerkhof 2-3, room 0.22
ECTS: 1 ECTS, only for RMA/PhD students
Registration: everybody’s welcome, but registration is required; max 25 people. To register, please email nog@uu.nl (and for RMA/PhD, please indicate if you wish to receive 1 ECTS)
