Morocco

Migration and Transnational Identity – syllabus
(AFRS3000 / 3 credits)

This course provides the main context for students to engage academically, epistemologically, and intellectually with the theme of migration and mobility. Students utilize a multi-level and multi-disciplinary approach that considers core issues of local and global cultural politics, development policies and their implications on national economies, local communities, and human rights, all in the context of transnational mobility. The course facilitates the student’s development of critical perspectives capable of assimilating the reality of interconnectedness and trans nationalization not only of problems, but more important, of viable alternatives. The course is divided into modules, which explore the following themes: culture and the Mediterranean space; sub-Saharan African immigrants in Morocco and trans-Saharan crossings and related issues of human rights and refugee status; Moroccan immigrants in Europe and development; European Migration to Morocco, European migration policy, gender and migration, social movements, and transnational identities. Throughout the course, readings and class discussions address issues of religion, race, gender, identity, undocumented and underage migrants, citizenship, and nationality.

Beginning Modern Standard Arabic – syllabus
(ARAB1006-1506 / 6 credits)

Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic – syllabus
(ARAB2006-2506 / 6 credits)

Advanced Modern Standard Arabic – syllabus
(ARAB3006-3506 / 6 credits)

The course is designed to equip students with a proficiency level in spoken Modern Standard Arabic in order to engage in everyday communication. The course integrates the skills of reading, writing, listening, grammar, vocabulary, and conversation. Students with prior study in Arabic will find reinforcement of Modern Standard Arabic through the media. Homestays, field excursions, and everyday interactions assist in language acquisition.

Research Methods and Ethics – syllabus
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits)

This course introduces students to the conceptual and practical tools for gathering primary data and the knowledge and skills that are essential to forming constructive relationships with organizations and/or individuals, which are necessary for completing an academic project in the cultural context of Morocco. In particular, the course enhances students’ skills at building rapport; initiating purposeful dialogue in the cultural context of Morocco; gathering, recording, and analyzing primary data; and writing a scholarly academic report. The course also pays particular attention to U.S. higher education ethical considerations that guide primary data collection and how these could be translated within the local cultural context of Morocco. Broadly, the course introduces students to both qualitative and quantitative approaches of social science field research.

The main emphasis of the course is on the development of empirical tools and ethics of interactive research skills involving the collection of primary data. The course includes lectures on qualitative methods of research in social sciences as well as development of a research proposal or internship proposal, and preparation of an application for review of research with human subjects. All students will participate in an overview of research design and methodological approaches to program themes. Ethical considerations related to conducting research or completing an internship will be discussed. The overall aim is to help students hone their experience-based learning processes and prepare them for the development of an Independent Study Project (ISP), which is largely based on the data gathered from primary sources, or an internship at a local organization.

In addition to taking the above courses, students will also need to enroll in one of the following two courses:

Independent Study Project
Independent Study Project – syllabus
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)

The Independent Study Project (ISP) is a self-designed research project offering students the opportunity to undertake a personally significant and independent investigation, which highlights  the regional and cultural reality that can only be encountered during a study abroad experience. The ISP is the academic component in which the student most directly applies the concepts, skills, tools, and techniques of experience-based learning articulated through the Research Methods and Ethics course and the thematic course, while enabling students to further integrate their language skills and the contacts they have developed at the level of the international community in Rabat as well as the regional (Moroccan, North African) levels.

Each student will plan, develop, and independently undertake a research project with the advice and guidance of the academic director and the ISP advisor. The topic may be anything of interest to the student, within the scope of the program, and is usually developed out of lectures,  discussions, field visits, and educational excursions. The final project should provide material evidence of students’ capability in utilizing appropriate methodologies and in synthesizing experiences in the host culture in Rabat. Students are expected to complete field-based (non-archival, non-library) research on their topic, submit a written paper, and/or creative project, and      accompanying oral presentation. It is not uncommon for ISPs to strongly contribute to students’ choice of subject for graduate studies or professional career.

Sample ISP topic areas:

• The relationship between the Kingdom of Morocco and its residents abroad
• Consequences of irregular migration on racial perceptions
• African migrants in Morocco
• LGBT refugees in Morocco
• Migrant images in Moroccan media
• Youth and emigration
• Sub-Saharan immigrants and their integration in Moroccan society
• European immigration laws and their impact on migration trends in Morocco
• Migrant remittances and local development
• Life narratives of migrants
• Sub-Saharan migration and access to healthcare
• NGOs and the informal education of migrants in Morocco
• Migrant women’s activism in Morocco
• Intercultural mediation and migration
• European ‘expatriate’ community in Morocco

Browse this program’s Independent Study Projects / undergraduate research.

OR

Internship and Seminar
Internship and Seminar – syllabus
(ITRN3000 / 4 credits)

This seminar consists of a four-week internship with a local community organization, research organization, business, or international NGO. The aim of the internship is to enable the student to gain valuable work experience and to enhance their skills in an international work environment. Students will complete an internship and submit a paper in which they process their learning experience on the job, analyze an issue important to the organization, and/or design a socially responsible solution to a problem identified by the organization. A focus will be on linking internship learning with the program’s critical global issue focus and overall program theme.

Sample internships:

• Working within a local NGO advocating migrants’ rights
• Teaching English to adult migrants at a local NGO
• Participating in the evaluation of migrant startups
• Cultural animation with a local NGO
• Defending women’s rights within a local NGO
• Advocacy and fundraising for a migration NGO