Dr. Mohammed Ezroura (Academic Coordinator and Professor)

Dr. Mohammed Ezroura is a professor of English and former Vice Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Mohammed V University-Agdal. He earned his PhD in Comparative Literature and Critical Theory from the University of British Columbia, his MA in the Sociology of Literature from Essex University, and his undergraduate degree in English from Mohammed V University. He served for many years as resident director of the Vassar College study abroad program in Morocco and has been a visiting scholar or professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara; the American Studies Research Center in Hyderabad, India; University of British Columbia; University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee; Vassar College; Lincoln University; Connecticut College; Seoul National University; Cairo University; Edinburgh University; and Stirling University.

Mr. Othmane Zakaria (Arabic Language Specialist and Coordinator)

As the Arabic Language Coordinator for AMIDEAST’s Education Abroad Programs in Morocco, Othmane Zakaria manages Arabic language teacher training as well as implementing the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) when teaching Arabic as a foreign language. Othmane is a native of Meknes, Morocco. In 2006, Othmane earned his BA in English Studies and Linguistics from Moulay Ismail University in Meknes. He also earned a master’s degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at (insert name of institution). Prior to his work with AMIDEAST, Othmane served as an English language teacher in Moroccan secondary schools for seven years and taught Arabic with the Critical Language Scholarships (CLS) Program in Rabat in 2012, as well as with other programs for non-native speakers. During the 2010-2011 academic year, Othmane served as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, teaching Arabic courses on language and culture at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. In addition to his work as an Arabic instructor, Othmane enjoys giving presentations on religion, Islam and interfaith dialogue, and facilitating language clubs. Othmane is engaged in many international educational networks such as iEarn (International Education and Resource Network) and National Global Teenagers Project. Othmane is also the General Secretary of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Alumni Association.

Dr. Fouad Ammor (Professor, Le Maroc et l'Europe: Economie et Politique)

Dr. Fouad Ammor is professor of Political Science at Mohammed V University-Agdal. He completed his PhD in Economics at Sidi Muhammad Bin Abdallah University in Fez in 1993 and a master’s degree in Economics and Development from Mohammed V University, Rabat in 1986. He holds a second master’s degree in Translation (English/French/Arabic) which he completed in 2010 at the School of Translation in Tangier, Morocco. Dr. Ammor also earned a diploma in Urban and Rural Sociology, in  West Berlin at the German Foundation for International Development (Deutschen Stiftung für International Enttwicklung), in 1987; and a Diploma in Peace Studies at the International Institute for Research in Peace Studies, in Geneva, Switzerland, in association with the United Nations Institute for Research on Disarmament.  

Prof. Assia Belhabib (Professor, Littératures Francophones du Maghreb)

Prof. Assia Belhabib is a professor of French literature and French language at Ibn Tufail University in Kenitra. She earned her Diplome des Etudes Superieures degree in 2003, master’s in 1992, a graduate diploma in 1989 and her BA in 1988.  Her research has addressed different Maghreb and Francophone authors and is concerned with the exploration of literature in its universal dimensions.  She has published La Langue de l’Hôte: Lecture de Abdelkébir Khatibi (2009), the editor of the collective work  Littérature et altérité (2009),  and Le Jour d’après (2010) which is a tribute to the late Abdelkébir Khatibi. Dr. Belhabib also hosts a monthly discussion meeting with writers at the National Library in Rabat.

Dr. Tibari Bouasla (Professor, Le Maroc : Structures Sociales et Politiques)

Dr. Tibari Bouasla is a Professor of Sociology in the College of Arts and Humanities, Mohammed V University-Agdal. He earned his PhD at the University of East Anglia in the UK, a post-graduate degree at René Descartes University in France, and his undergraduate degree from Mohammed V University. He is a widely published scholar who has served as a visiting professor at the U.N. Social Defense Research Institute in both Rome and Saudi Arabia, and at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.

Dr. Najib Bounnahi (Professor, Cinéma Marocain et Mutations sociales/politiques)

Dr. Najib Bounahai is a Professor at Ibn Tufail University in Kenitra, where he directs a graduate program, Studies in Language and Culture, and also serves on the University’s Academic Committee. Dr. Bounahai holds a PhD from Tufts University where he was a Fulbright scholar for five years. Prior to his Fulbright appointment, he completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Essex in the UK.  Dr. Bounahai’s interests include sociology of drama and film, performance studies, and theatre anthropology. He is the director of a research group, Theatre and the City, and has supervised doctoral research on a wide of range of issues such as (post)colonial cinema in the Maghreb, Turkish soap operas on Moroccan television, and Western Pop Music and Orientalism.  Dr. Bounahai is currently working on Moroccan Cinema and Social Change (1998 to the Present) and has presented his findings at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Bounahai has directed several plays and is now working on a production on Shakespeare’s Othello.

Dr. Khalid Chegraoui (Professor, Afrique du Nord,  Afrique subsaharienne : Relations politiques, économiques et culturelles,  le cas du Maroc africain)

Dr. Khalid Chegraoui is a Professor of History and Political Anthropology at the Institute of African Studies at Mohammed V University (Souissi), in Rabat, Morocco.  As an educator, researcher and historian, Dr. Chegraoui has served in the Department of History at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at Sidi Muhammad Bin Abdallah University in Fez; as a member of the Board of the Moroccan Association of History; and as a member of the Council for the Development of Social Science and Research in Africa.  Dr. Chegraoui has conducted research on the history and political anthropology of northwest and sub-Saharan Africa, and political Islam. Currently he is coordinating a research group on Africa: Geostratic Space and Civilization. Some of his recently published articles include: State and Islam in West Africa (in French); Trade Routes: Trans-Saharan Caravan Enters the Maghreb and Sudan (in Arabic); Ottomans in Traditional Moroccan Historiography (in Arabic); The Voyage of El-Hadjj Umar in the Middle East or The Search of Political Power; and Ideology, Religion and Ethnocentrism in the Maghreb, Monarchy and political Islam in Morocco (translation). In April 2008, he participated in the program  “Context of Culture: Islam: The Moroccan Experience,” in Phoenix Arizona. He is also columnist and consultant to Moroccan and international media organizations including Medi 1 radio, Medi 1 Sat (TV), Al-Jazeera, and Radio Sawa Washington.

Dr. Abdessamad Dialmy (Professor, Sexualité, Femme et Religion dans le Monde Arabo-Islamique)

Dr. Abdessamad Dialmy has served as a professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Mohammed V University – Agdal in Rabat since 2006 following his time as a professor at Sidi Muhammad Bin Abdallah University in Fez, beginning in 1977.  He is a board member of Social Compass, the international journal of the sociology of religion. Dr. Dialmy is also a member of the World Association for Sexology.  He serves as an expert-consultant for international organizations like WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, Population Council, USAID, EU, and for several Moroccan ministries (Health, Social Development, Planning) and organizations.  Dr. Dialmy has published extensively on gender, sexuality, women, health and Islam in Arabic, French and English in international journals such as Social Science and Medicine, Social Analysis, Les Annales, Archives des Sciences Sociales des Religions. His books include Logement, Sexualité et Islam (Casablanca, Eddif, 1995), Féminisme, Islamisme et Soufisme (Paris, Publisud, 1997), Jeunesse, Sida et Islam au Maroc (Casablanca, Eddif, 2000), Le féminisme au Maroc (Casablanca, Toubkal, 2008), Critique de la Masculinité au Maroc (Rabat, Editions Warzazi, 2010), Sex Education for Young Muslims (FILAD, The Hague, 2011).

Dr. Mohsine El Ahmadi (Professor, Systèmes Politiques au Maghreb)

Dr. Mohsine El Ahmadi is professor of sociology at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakesh. He also served as a Fulbright/Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University (Prince AlWaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, 2009-20101) where he led research on Religion and Power in the Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Dr. El Ahmadi earned his PhD in 1998 and an M.Phil in 1987 from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. His research focuses on Islamist movements in Morocco and North Africa and has published several books on Islamist movements in Morocco. During his academic stay in Washington, DC he gave numerous talks including appearances at the Hudson Institute addressing religious freedom in Morocco, the Library of Congress on  the subject of religion, power and society,  and at Lewis and Clark College discussing symbolical power and power of symbols in the Moroccan political system.

Dr. Raja Rhouni (Professor, Femmes, Islam et  Politique)

Dr. Raja Rhouni is currently a professor of English at Chouaib Doukkali University in El Jadida, Morocco.  She has studied English literature and cultural studies, receiving her PhD in Culture and Development Studies in 2005 from Mohammad V University – Agdal in Rabat. From 2006 to 2007 she was a fellow in the multi-disciplinary research program “Europe in the Middle East: the Middle East in Europe” within the Institute of Advanced Study in Berlin. Her project dealt with "Islamic Feminist Hermeneutics of the Qur'an." She is the author of Secular and Islamic Feminist Critiques in the Work of Fatima Mernissi (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2010).