“The Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art, and Society” is a whole raft of exhibitions, lectures, performances, film screenings and events organized by Judith K. Brodsky and Ferris Olin of Rutgers University, showcasing women artists, filmmakers, writers, and performers from the Middle East accompanied by their ethnic sisters here and around the world.

The various events in the series will take place at many venues throughout the state from now through January, but they are centered on the campuses of Princeton and Rutgers universities, along with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Arts Councils of Princeton and West Windsor, and the public libraries in East Brunswick, New Brunswick, and Princeton.

“Fertile Crescent” is meant to spark a dialogue about the complex social, political, theological and historic issues that shape the status of Middle Eastern women. And it will boast a number of well-known contemporary artists, among them Mona Hatoum (Palestinian), Shirin Neshat (Iranian), Sigalit Landau (Israeli), and Shazia Sikander (Pakistani). The programs explore matters of gender, geopolitics, theology, the environment, and transnationalism. For example, an exhibition of new work by Egyptian artists in response to the Arab Spring uprising will be accompanied by a talk by a leading historian and gender specialist focused on the Middle East and Islamic world, Margot Badran.

The corridor between Rutgers and Princeton has been densely settled by communities of Palestinian, Egyptian, and other Middle Eastern origins, not to mention a longstanding population of Jews. “Fertile Crescent” will highlight similar gender concerns in all these groups, as well as their cultural differences, in truly manifold ways.

The events are too numerous to list here (For a full listing, visit www.fertile-crescent.org.), but the following are the core locations and dates for “Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art, and Society”:

• Mason Gross Galleries, Rutgers University, 33 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, now through Sept. 9, featuring work by Jananne Al-Ani, Fatima Al Qadari, Monira Al Qadari, Ofri Cnaani, Diana El Jeiroudi, Ayana Friedman, Ariane Littman, Ebru Özseçen, Nil Yalter, and Laila Shawa. Free. Open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday – Friday.

• Princeton University Art Museum, near the center of the Princeton campus, now through Jan. 13, featuring work by Parastou Forouhar, MonaHatoum, Sigalit Landau, Shirin Neshat, and Laila Shawa. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, Thursday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

• Bernstein Gallery, Woodrow Wilson School, on the campus of Princeton University, now through Oct. 19, featuring work by Negar Ahkami, Ghada Amer with Reza Farkhondeh, Zeina Barakeh, Ofri Cnaani, Parastou Forouhar, and Shadi Ghadirian. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday – Friday.

• Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series Galleries, Mabel Smith Douglass Library, Rutgers University, 8 Chapel Drive, New Brunswick, now through Sept. 28, featuring work by Fatimah Tuggar; from Oct. 4–Nov. 1, Ariane Littman; from Nov. 9-Dec. 17, Shahzia Sikander. Open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday.

• Arts Council of Princeton/Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, 102 Witherspoon St., Princeton, from Oct. 4–Nov. 21, featuring work by Shiva Ahmadi, Monira Al Qadari, Nezaket Ekici, Hayv Kahraman, and Efrat Kedem. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.