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Morocco

Migration and Transnational Identity

Using a multidisciplinary approach, enrich your understanding of migration through meetings with migrants, local NGOs, international institutions, and effected communities in Morocco and the Netherlands.

At a Glance

Credits

16

Prerequisites

None

Language of Study

Arabic

Courses taught in

English

Dates

Feb 6 – May 20

Program Countries

Morocco

Program Excursion Countries

Netherlands

Program Base

Rabat

Critical Global Issue of Study

Identity & Human Resilience

Overview

Why study migration in Morocco?

Get an introduction to the history of migration in Morocco at the ancient Roman site, Volubilis, and the medieval cities of Fes and Meknès. In Rabat, discuss migration issues with prominent university professors and visit Moroccan and United Nations agencies and NGOs dealing with migration. In the northern cities of Tangier and Tétouan, you’ll visit African NGOs working with migrants and the border with Spain, where sustained undocumented migration takes place. On a seven-day stay in the Netherlands, you’ll discuss transnationalism, identity, and integration with Moroccan migrants, Dutch professors, and NGO workers. You will also spend a day with a Moroccan-Dutch community in Amsterdam. You will have the option of either interning with an organization focused on issues related to migration or carrying out an independent research project.

Highlights

  • Examine the historical, economic and political roots of African migration to Europe
  • Meet with scholars and professionals working on migration
  • Hear directly from undocumented and documented migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees about their experiences and resilience
  • Observe civil society organizations’ support for migrant groups, including adults, women, and children
  • Explore the impact of migration in the European Union and related issues of integration politics, transnationalism, and identity during a seven-day excursion to the Netherlands

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites; however, students with a background in French will find ample opportunity for French language practice while also learning Arabic.

program map

Excursions

The Northern Excursion: Tangier, Tétouan, and Chefchaouen

While visiting Tangier and Tétouan, Morocco’s Mediterranean cities, you’ll observe populations with transnational identity and learn about international migration. During this excursion, you’ll visit organizations working with youth from marginalized urban neighborhoods and illegal youth migration. At the border, you’ll meet NGOs providing relief services to undocumented migrants and others advocating for migrants’ rights. In the mountain city of Chefchaouen, you’ll observe the impact of migration and remittances on urbanization and local development.

Amsterdam

On a seven-day trip to Amsterdam, you’ll interact with the growing community of Moroccans and explore the impact of migration on European communities. You will become familiar with debates about the growing Muslim presence in Europe, including varied reactions of Dutch politicians and the rise of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim parties. You will also hear success stories and the issue of integration into wider society. You will spend a day with a Moroccan-Dutch community in Amsterdam meeting with three generations of Moroccans living in the Netherlands. Presentations and discussions will cover transnationalism, education, gender, and identity.

Please note that SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, however, SIT may have to change or cancel programs.

Academics

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate proficiency in the Arabic language speaking and writing capacity and basic conversational skills in Moroccan colloquial Darija.
  • Explain main migration theoretical issues and the relative analytical importance of various concepts in the study of migration.
  • Articulate push factors of African migration to Europe with specific reference to Moroccan migration.
  • Analyze the international regulatory framework of the protection of refugees and asylum seekers as they apply in the case of Morocco.
  • Assess the European context of migration flows, conflicting political ideologies on migration, the process of integration of third generation of migrants, and transnational identity.
  • Describe the challenges and risks of sub-Saharan migrants’ journey to Morocco including migrant women.
  • Acquire professional experience through internship placement with associations providing child/adult education, cultural animation, or socioeconomic integration of migrants.
  • Synthesize the learning acquired through interaction with academic advisors, resource persons and institutions in an Independent Study Project or internship experience paper.

Read more about Program Learning Outcomes.



Coursework

Access virtual library guide.

The following syllabi are representative of this program. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, actual course content will vary from term to term.

The syllabi can be useful for students, faculty, and study abroad offices in assessing credit transfer. Read more about credit transfer.

Please expand the sections below to see detailed course information, including course codes, credits, overviews, and syllabi.


Key Topics

  • Factors driving migration in Morocco, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa
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  • The EU management of migration in the Mediterranean
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  • African migrant communities in Morocco and resilience
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  • Migration and human rights
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  • Transnationalism and identity among Moroccan migrants to the Netherlands
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  • Gender and migration

Migration and Transnational Identity

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.

Arabic

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

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

This course is designed to provide firsthand and experiential knowledge about the richness and challenges of conducting field study in Morocco. It provides the necessary conceptual and methodological thread that enables the student to learn from experience, to apply the knowledge and skills gained in language study and the thematic course, and to prepare to undertake field study in Morocco in strict observance of research procedure involving human subjects and the regulatory ethical norms defined by the Institutional Review Board. At the end of the course, the student should have the cultural understanding and the methodological tools to successfully complete an Independent Study Project. The course is also designed to answer specific concerns that research on migration generally raises. Migration involves minors, undocumented migrants in transit, friends, and families of victims of clandestine migrants, associations providing support to migrants, policymakers, and international organizations. The lectures address issues that pertain to research methods, confidentiality, and anonymity of informants, interviewing and data collection, safety and migrant psychology. Individual meetings are scheduled throughout the course to address research objectives and expectations of each student. RME also addresses key ethical issues pertaing to internship in the context of Morocco.

Independent Study Project or Internship

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)

Conducted in Rabat or another approved location in Morocco appropriate to the project. Students work closely with their academic director and a local advisor to design and build their Independent Study Project (ISP). Field-based ISPs on migration include the study of socioeconomic conditions of migrants, healthcare and social protection, informal and formal education, migrants rights, migrant women, local perceptions of migration, intercultural communication, identity and resilience among migrant communities.

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
  • Causes and consequences of clandestine migration
  • 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

Homestays

Rabat

For eight weeks, you will live with a host family in the historic section of Rabat. you’ll experience daily life and get a deeper understanding of the culture. You will participate in every facet of your host family’s life including mealtime, shopping, cafes, attending family events, visiting relatives, and socializing with neighbors.

The family is the center of life in Morocco. You’ll break bread with your host family twice a day as mealtimes are an integral part of the day. Spending time with your host family, you’ll become familiar with the sounds and gestures of Arabic as it is spoken in Morocco (darija).

You will have plenty of opportunities to practice Arabic and gain insight into the multiple uses of this language in real life settings.

You may chose to stay with your homestay family during the four-week ISP period.

During your four-week ISP period, you may choose to continue living with your host family or receive a stipend to arrange your own accommodation

Other Accommodations

Hostels, private homes, or small hotels.

Career Paths

A diversity of students representing different colleges, universities, and majors study abroad on this program. Many of them have gone on to do amazing things that connect back to their experience abroad with SIT. Recent positions held by alumni of this program include:

  • Intern at an immigration law firm

  • Intern at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, Switzerland

  • Fulbright scholars

  • Education volunteer with the Peace Corps working with a Haitian immigrant community in the Dominican Republic

Faculty & Staff

Morocco: Migration and Transnational Identity

Et-Tibari Bouasla, PhD bio link
Et-Tibari Bouasla, PhD
Academic Director
Ahlam Baoui bio link
Ahlam Baoui
Program Assistant
Asmae El Laouzi, MA bio link
Asmae El Laouzi, MA
Arabic Instructor
Mariam Bakkali, PhD bio link
Mariam Bakkali, PhD
Founder and Director of LangZone

Discover the Possibilities

  • Cost & Scholarships

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