This writing course focuses on a selected body of fiction by women from Iran, Palestine and Egypt along with films by/about women from Iran. In particular, we will compare and contrast various ways women register socio-political circumstances in modern history of their homelands through literature and cinema. The selected texts and films will also help us gain deeper understanding of modern/contemporary history of these cultures through feminine sensitivity. Among other questions we will ask: how does each author comment on the nation’s modern history? In what ways, to what extent and to what effect does women’s sensitivity inform the representation of historical events? How are women situated within socio-political transformation of their homelands?