Course Description
This Maymester study-abroad course examines gender, culture, and Islam in Morocco through immersive field-based learning and structured intercultural dialogue. Instruction integrates seminars, guided site visits, guest lectures, homestays with Moroccan families, and facilitated dialogue sessions with Moroccan peers. Through sustained interaction and reflective analysis, students develop intercultural competence.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will work closely with the instructor to produce a graduate-level assignment that speaks to their interests. This may be, for example, a research paper, a presentation, an annotated bibliography, a book review, a lesson plan, or a different assignment agreed upon by the student and instructor.
Athena Title
Gender Culture Islam Morocco
Non-Traditional Format
This is a Maymester summer abroad program and will thus entail, with the coursework, extensive travel throughout Morocco and homestays with Moroccan families. The educational experience of this course will be of an on-going "immersion" type.
Undergraduate Prerequisite
Second-year student standing or permission of department
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students will be able to demonstrate intercultural competence by engaging respectfully and effectively with Moroccan host families, community members, religious leaders, and peers across linguistic, religious, and cultural differences.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to analyze Moroccan society through the lenses of language, religion, gender, history, and regional diversity, drawing on lived experiences, field observations, and academic texts.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to apply basic Moroccan Arabic (Darija) in everyday contexts, including greetings, transportation, food, shopping, and social interactions.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to critically reflect on religion in daily life by examining how Islam shapes social practices, ethics, gender roles, and communal identity in Morocco.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to compare religious and cultural narratives by situating Moroccan Islam within broader global, historical, and comparative frameworks.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to engage in structured intercultural dialogue by articulating informed perspectives and asking thoughtful questions.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to synthesize experiential learning through written reflections, discussions, presentations, and dialogue summaries that integrate academic sources with on-site experiences.
Topical Outline
- Foundations of Moroccan Islam:
History, beliefs, rituals, and religious practice in Morocco
- Gender, Authority, and Religious Leadership:
Women’s roles, religious authority, and critiques of stereotypes
- Sufism and Spirituality:
Moroccan Sufi traditions, saints, shrines, meditation, and ethics
- Religious Diversity and Interfaith Relations:
Muslim–Jewish relations, sacred spaces, and coexistence
- Culture, Identity, and Regional Variation:
Arab and Amazigh identities; urban and rural life; material culture, arts, and music
- Experiential Learning and Intercultural Dialogue:
Fieldwork, homestays, dialogue sessions, and reflexive ethnography
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Social Awareness & Responsibility
The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.
