Course Description
Living with and understanding a Moroccan family, its nurturing of its members, its roles, interrelationships, economic resources, stressors, family customs, the impact of Islam, the emotions of the family and the student participant observer, and comparison with American family life.
Athena Title
FAMILY DYN MOROCCO
Non-Traditional Format
Field-based course for Maymester term with the major portion of learning occuring while living with Moroccan families, supplemented by lectures and group discussions.
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
In Religion 3010, students will learn how to observe, reflect on, and write about: 1) The roles and interrelationships of a Moroccan family; 2) The sources of its economic resources and how they are allocated among the family; 3) Conditions that cause distress in family members and how the family deals with these; 4) Family customs and rituals and how these affect the family's bonds; 5) The impact of Islam on the family; 6) The emotions of the family; 7) The student's own emotions and related thoughts while living with the family; 8) Comparisons of Moroccan and American family life.
Topical Outline
1)Course introduction and the role of the student as a participant observer 2)Generally accepted principles of family life and observing the degree to which these apply to the Moroccan family system 3)The significance of Islam and family adab 4)The roles of husbands, wives, children, grandparents, extended and “fictive” family members 5)Observing and writing about both the emotions of the Moroccan family as well as the student's own emotions and related thoughts 6)Distressing issues within Moroccan families and between the family and other institutions 7)The “institutional family” and “personal families” 8)Acquisition and allocation of economic resources of Moroccan families 9)Rituals and ceremonies that solidify the bonds within and between families 10)Customs related to housing, food, nurturance and care, spiritual development, gender roles, household maintenance, and other daily life concerns 11)Similarities of and differences between Moroccan and American families