In Morocco the AMIDEAST Education Abroad EXPERIENCE IS:
A DISCOVERY: From the bone sands of the Sahara to the lush Atlas and Rif Mountains, Morocco is one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the Mediterranean basin. AMIDEAST students live with local Arabic-speaking families or with Moroccan students in a residence hall in Rabat, a city that is home to palaces, wide boulevards, and bustling markets. There students engage in experiential learning every day by haggling for goods in local shops, cooking meals with host families, and frequenting local cafes with Moroccan friends. During their time in the Kingdom students meet the great diversity of people who make up a society which stands at the crossroads of Arab, indigenous (Amazigh), African, and European cultures. AMIDEAST Education Abroad students benefit from the programs’ long standing relationship with the community and thereby offering access to a side of Morocco most visitors never see.
UNPARALLELED: In the westernmost outpost of the Arab world, students learn first-hand from leading faculty about Morocco’s efforts to address issues such as gender rights, ethnic diversity, and democratization. Very few students are able to live and study in countries with such a varied and complex approach to the pressing social, religious, and cultural issues of the Middle East and North Africa. In Rabat, Morocco’s capital city, AMIDEAST students benefit from the support offered by dedicated programming staff who know how to provide unique access to Moroccan culture. As a result of AMIDEAST’s on-site orientation, program-organized excursions to “out-there” locations such as Fez and Marrakesh, and structured opportunities to meet local Moroccan students, AMIDEAST students begin to understand this truly unique region of North Africa.
DIVERSE: AMIDEAST offers a diverse range of programs in Morocco to meet student interests. Semester/Academic Year students can study history, political science, religion, sociology, women’s issues, Francophone literature and Arabic while simultaneously exploring the changing Arab world outside of the classroom. For exceptional students looking for opportunities for deep and complex study of the region, AMIDEAST offers an Honors Program in North African Studies where students are given additional opportunities to study with prominent scholars and conduct primary research. For students who wish to directly enroll in a Moroccan university, students can study for a Semester/Academic Year at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI), where classes are taught in English. Prior to setting off to live in this idyllic town in the Middle Atlas mountains, students study Moroccan Arabic and culture, living with a host family, and exploring the city of Rabat during AMIDEAST’s 3-week pre-session. And finally, for those students looking to quickly improve their Arabic, they can enroll in a 4-week or 8-week intensive summer session to study both modern standard and colloquial Arabic.
DEEP: In their daily life, students learn directly from Moroccans through the hospitality of the people of this welcoming country. Students can choose to live, eat, and practice their classroom learning with their Arabic-speaking host families or to engage in the unique experience of living in a private residence hall with their Moroccan counterparts. In addition to the rigorous academic program, AMIDEAST students have space to have that third cup of mint tea, spend hours with host mothers’ perfecting a traditional dish, watch the sun set over the Atlantic ocean, and wander through ancient markets.
JOYFUL: Like many places where AMIDEAST runs programs, Morocco’s culture encourages us to slow down. Whether sitting around one large dish of couscous with their host family on Fridays at noon or practicing the art of bargaining, AMIDEAST students find that Moroccans’ fluidity with time and their insistent hospitality allow the beauty of this country to emerge in thousands of small moments.
