My Life as I Lived It

Memoirs of a Saudi Woman from Unaizah to California

This engaging book compiles the memoirs of the eventful and unconventional life of Dr. Thuraya bint Mohammed Al-Sulaiman Al-Ibrahim Al-Turki, the first Saudi woman to specialize in anthropology and one of the first Saudi women to earn a doctorate.

The author states: "I have never encountered anything in my life that garnered such unanimous insistence from my friends and colleagues as the urging to document my life experience, which they graciously deemed worthy of being told, hoping it might inspire new generations of women in the Arabian Peninsula. My generation and I fought battle after battle for rights that are now considered self-evident, against a societal culture that relied on specific interpretations of religious texts, which stood as an impenetrable barrier to women's education, work, and involvement in public life in their communities.

I presented what happened in my life as it happened, and in areas that I claim others would have thought about dozens of times before venturing into. I strived for the highest level of honesty in this book. I presented myself as I am, without embellishment or 'retouching.' Perhaps the secret behind this relative frankness is that I am a scholar, and the idea of objectivity always presses upon me, even against myself, as much as I can manage. Although the experience is personal, it intertwines with social change in the Kingdom through my person, my family, and perhaps my entire generation."

About the Author

Dr. Thuraya bint Mohammed Al-Sulaiman Al-Ibrahim Al-Turki is considered the first Saudi woman to specialize in anthropology and one of the first Saudi women to earn a doctorate.

This scholar—always proud to be a daughter of Najd and Hejaz and proud of her Arab identity—has many important and rigorous studies. She has also taught at Harvard, California, Georgetown, and Pennsylvania Universities, King Abdulaziz University, Riyadh University, and the American University in Cairo.