Marie Grace Brown

Marie Grace Brown researches and teaches the history of the modern Middle East with a special interest in women's activism and national movements. Her current book project examines northern Sudanese women's use of traditional dress to craft their gendered and national identities during Sudan's independence movement of the 1950s. Brown argues that though excluded from official state and political institutions Sudanese women consciously used their bodies and fashion to articulate a public presence for themselves and define new standards of womanhood. This focus on dress and the body is a conscious effort to move past the male-dominated textual source base which forms the foundation of so much historical scholarship and restore the voices of women to national narratives.

Brown teaches a wide array of classes on the (broadly defined) Middle East including courses on early Islamic empires, political and social change in the modern era, gender and sexuality, and high-class tourism. Her broader research interests include imperialism in Africa and the Middle East, race identity, and cultures of consumption within empire.