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Helen Rizzo

  • Position: Associate Professor and Director of the Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies
  • Department: Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology
  • Email: [email protected]
Brief Biography

Helen Rizzo is an associate professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology and the director of the Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies at The American University in Cairo (AUC). She has published numerous articles on public opinion, citizenship rights, women’s rights and the democratization process in Kuwait. Her book, Islam, Democracy and the Status of Women: The Case of Kuwait, was published in 2005 by Routledge Press. Her current research and publications focus on activism against public sexual violence in Egypt, including issues of masculinity. She is also the co-editor of Gender in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges (2020) with Lynne Rienner Publishers which was selected as one of the 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles by the  Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) (the largest division of the American Library Association) and Sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges (2024) with Syracuse University Press in their series: Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East (with J. Michael Ryan).

Research Interest

Research Interests

  • Political sociology, specifically anti-sexual and gender-based violence activism in the Middle East
  • Stratification, emphasizing gender’s intersection with other social inequalities

Teaching Interests

  • Research methods and statistics
  • Social stratification and inequalities
  • Sociology of gender, including masculinities
  • Race and ethnicity
  • Arab and Middle Eastern families
  • Introductory Sociology

Book

Rizzo, Helen Mary. 2005. Islam, Democracy and the Status of Women: The Case of Kuwait. New York: Routledge Press series: Middle East Studies: History, Politics and Law.

Edited volumes

  • Ryan, J. Michael and Helen Rizzo (editors). 2020. Gender in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. (Selected as a 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title. It was among 531 books and digital resources chosen by the CHOICE editorial staff from among the over 3,500 titles reviewed by Choice in 2020.)
  • Rizzo, Helen Mary (guest editor). 2015. Special issue on “The Intersection of Culture and Politics in post January 2011 Egypt.” International Journal of Sociology 45 (3). (refereed journal).
  • Rizzo, Helen and Iman Hamdy (editors). 2014. Special issue on “Masculinities in Egypt and the Arab World: Historical, Literary, and Social Science Perspectives”.Cairo Papers in Social Science 33 (1). (in house journal).

Articles and book chapters

  • Hassan, Mozn and Helen Rizzo. 2023. "The Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Epidemic meets the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survivors' and Advocates' Narratives in Egypt." International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 47 (2): 147-165, published online: December 28, 2022, (refereed journal).
  • Rizzo, Helen and J. Michael Ryan. 2020. “Gender in the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa.” Pp. 1-12 in Gender in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges, edited by J. Michael Ryan and Helen Rizzo. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. (Introduction to Gender in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges).
  • Ryan, J. Michael and Helen Rizzo. 2020. “Rethinking Gender in the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa.” Pp. 235-238 in Gender in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges, edited by J. Michael Ryan and Helen Rizzo. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. (Conclusion to Gender in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges).
  • Zarif, Ereny and Helen Rizzo. 2018. “Kuwait.” Pp. 249-274 for Arab Family Studies, Critical Reviews, edited by Suad Joseph. Doha: Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) and Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
  • Rizzo, Helen Mary. 2015. “How Culture and Politics Intersect in Post-January 2011 Egypt.” International Journal of Sociology 45 (3): 171-175. (Introduction to special issue on “The Intersection of Culture and Politics in post January 2011 Egypt”).
  • Rizzo, Helen. 2014. “The State of the Field of Masculinity Studies.” Cairo Papers in Social Science 33 (1): 1-11. (Introduction to the special issue on “Masculinities in Egypt and the Arab World: Historical, Literary, and Social Science Perspectives”).
  • Rizzo, Helen. 2014. “The Role of Women’s Rights Organizations in Promoting Masculine Responsibility: The Anti-Sexual Harassment Campaign in Egypt.” Cairo Papers in Social Science 33 (1): 102-129. Special issue on “Masculinities in Egypt and the Arab World: Historical, Literary, and Social Science Perspectives”. (in house journal).
  • Rizzo, Helen, Anne M. Price and Katherine Meyer. 2012. “Anti Sexual Harassment Campaign in Egypt.” Mobilization 17 (4): 457-475.  (refereed journal).
  • Rizzo, Helen. 2012. “Democratization in Kuwait and the Gendered Responses of Islamist Movements.” Pp. 143-166 in Islam: Islamist Movements and Democracy in the Middle East, edited by Rajeesh Kumar and Navaz Nizar. New Delhi, India: Global Vision Publishing House. (book chapter).
  • Tétreault, Mary Ann, Helen Rizzo and Doron Shultziner. 2012. “Fashioning the Future:  The Women’s Movement in Kuwait.” Pp. 253-278 in Mapping Arab Women’s Movements, edited by Nawar Al Hassan Golley and Pernille Arenfeldt. Cairo, Egypt: The American University in Cairo Press. (book chapter).
  • Rizzo, Helen. 2011. "Creating Community Around Women's Rights: The Anti Sexual Harassment Campaign in Egypt." Pp. 137-150 in Local governance in the Arab World and the Mediterranean: What role for women?, edited by Sylvette Denefle and Safaa Monqid. Cairo, Egypt: CEDEJ (book chapter).
  • Tétreault, Mary Ann, Katherine Meyer, and Helen Rizzo. 2009. “Women’s Rights in the Middle East: A Longitudinal Study of Kuwait.” International Political Sociology 3(2): 218–237. (refereed journal).

In the Media

  • Price, Anne, Helen Rizzo, Chelsea Marty and Katherine Meyer. 2017. “The Arab Spring and Women’s Continued Mobilization in the Region.” Mobilizing Ideas (March 1). (A blog of The Center for the Study of Social Movements at the University of Notre Dame, editorial home of the journal Mobilization.) https://mobilizingideas.wordpress.com/2017/03/01/the-arab-spring-and-wom...
  • U.S., Middle East Myths on Gender Equality, Common Ground News Service, 2012.

PhD, 2000, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

MA, 1995, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

BA, 1993, Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio.

  • American Sociological Association (ASA)
  • ISA Research Committee on Comparative Sociology
  • ISA Research Committee on Women in Society
  • ISA Research Committee on Social Movements, Collective  Action and Social Change
  • ASA Sociology of Religion Section
  • ASA Sociology of Sex and Gender Section
  • ASA Political Sociology Section
  • ASA Labor and Labor Movements Section
  • ASA Caucus on Transnational Approaches to Gender and Sexuality
  • Association for Middle East Women’s Studies (AMEWS)
  • AMEWS Graduate Student Outreach Committee (January 2016-present)
  • Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)
  • International Sociological Association (ISA)
  • Research Committee on Comparative Sociology
  • Research Committee on Women in Society
  • Research Committee on Social Movements, Collective  Action and Social Change
  • Middle East Studies Association (MESA)
  • Middle East Sociology Working Group
  • Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
  • Publications Committee (2009-2011)