Classmates' Research Excursions

 I chose 3 classmates' projects because they chose topics that I wasn't familiar with and wanted to learn more about.

First, I thought Cassi's podcast about the morality police was very interesting. They were mentioned briefly in Home Fire, and I didn't have much previous knowledge to begin with. I was very intrigued to hear Cassi talk about how people "had strayed so far from Mohammad's vision" regarding social practices for Muslim women. In my excursion, I explored the diversion of radical Islamic visions from traditional Islamic visions, so I found this talking point relatable. I had no idea that the majority of repressive policies towards women were introduced as recently as the 1970s. I expected that Islam's social policies had been created a long time ago when women's role in society was more repressive all across the world. I also did not know that the morality police actively tracked citizens of the country, punishing any social infractions. 

Next, I chose to read John's research essay on the British Consulate, an organization I didn't know much about. I was interested to learn about two terrorist attacks that took place outside the British Consulate in late 2003. After these attacks and thinking back to what occurred on 9/11, Britons feared that Britain was the next destination for a terrorist attack. I was fascinated to read about the different responses of global leaders to the terrorist attack. The jarring response from the Turkish president was that the attackers "‘will be damned until eternity.’" I liked the comparison of this response to a hypothetical US Presidential response to the attack.

Finally, I was excited to read Hilary's research essay on sexual expectations and norms. It was interesting for me to see how Isma's view on sex and physical intimacy differ from Aneeka's views. It was also fascinating to see how different the rules are for men and women in society, particularly sex outside of marriage. It is acceptable for men to be with someone else other than their spouse while women are scrutinized for it.