Morocco Humanities and Arts
Project Center in Rabat
(Rabat, established in 1146 CE, is the capital of
Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean.)
Bab Oudaia, Rabat
Project center is based in Rabat but students travel throughout Morocco.
Academic Requirements for One Unit of Work
to Complete Humanities and Arts Requirement
• A one-third unit informed Memoir or Blog
entitled “People and Places of Morocco”
based on educational excursions to
Casablanca, Fes, Atlas Mountains,
Marrakech, Volubilis, Meknes, the Sahara….
• A two-thirds Independent Study Research
Project written on a self-selected topic
dealing with Moroccan and/or Islamic history,
culture, or society…. Research is based
both on scholarly books and articles and
discussions with individual Moroccans.
Students study the basics of written and spoken Arabic
in the Moroccan dialect of Darija.
Students write memoir/blog (1/3rd unit) about
excursions to historic Moroccan places.
Tomb of Mohammed V (1909-1961) Sultan of Morocco (1927-1953, King
of Independent State (1955-1961), Rabat
Rabat Medina
“Peoples & Places
Memoir/Blog”
Le Tour Hassan (13th century) in Rabat
“The founder of Rabat, the great Yacoub-el-Mansour, called it,
in memory of the battle of Alarcos, The Camp of Victory" (Ribatel-Path), and the monuments he bestowed on it justified the name in
another sense, by giving it the beauty that lives when battles are forgotten.”
Edith Warton
Rabat Medina
Casablanca medina with mosque Hassan II on horizon.
Visiting Mosque Hassan II in Casablanca
“Peoples and Places: A Moroccan Memoir”
Cedre Gourard, Atlas Mountains
“Peoples and Places: A Moroccan Memoir
Cedre Gourard outside Ifrane—Orientation Retreat
Volubilis (40-289 C.E.)
“Peoples and Places Memoir/Blog”
Marrakech,
Gate to Medina
Visiting the Fifteenth Century Ali
ben Youssef Madrasa in Marrakech
Chefchaouen, Rif Mountains
“Peoples and Places Memoir”
Much Spanish
spoken in Xaouan.
Streets painted in
two-tones are not
dead ends.
A lot of great tapestry
And jewelry.
Tafilalt Oasis ’09
‘08
“People and Places Memoir/Blog”
Morgan, Melissa, Chris, Michelle
Max’s Award Winning Photo ’08
Dawn Camel Trek, Merzouga, Sahara Desert
Examples of Previous Individual
Humanities and Arts Projects
(Students complete a 2/3rd unit research project in any HUA discipline.)
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Sufism: A Love Divine
Women and Islam: Reform and Tradition
Music and Islam: Allah Akbar & the Sounds of Man
Calligraphy and Islam:
Environmentalism and Islam
Animal Rights and Islam
The Problem of Evil in Islam
Monotheism and Islam
Al-Andalus: Spanish and Arabic Cultural Interpenetration
The Trans-Saharan Slave Trade
French Imperialism in the Maghreb
Jews in Morocco and Their Exit after 1967
Harmony in Islam and in Medieval Moroccan Architecture
Emigration from Morocco to Spain
The Moroccan Revolution in Bowles’ The Spider House
Jews and Christians in the Qur’an
The Arab Spring in Morocco
“Just Like Us”—video on the values and goals of Moroccan youth
Movies and Novels about Morocco
Some Examples of Possible
Humanities and Art Topics
ISLAM
Students can research and write
about many different aspects of
Islamic religious belief including:
• Jews and Christians in the Qur’an
• Islamic beliefs concerning peace and war
• Rationalism and Mysticism in Islam
• Women and Islam
• Mosque and State in Morocco
• Muslim religious customs and practices
HISTORY AND POLITICS
Historical topics might include the Arab
conquest of North Africa, culture and
Religious tolerance in al-Andalus (when
Morocco included Spain), Thomas
Jefferson’s treaty with the Sultan of
Morocco to end Barbary Piracy, revolution
against France, Morocco and the Cold
War under Hassan II, the reforms of
Mohammed VI during the Arab Spring, etc..
Colonial division derived from
Congress of Algeciras (1906);
Western Sahara (Spanish Sahara)
occupied by Morocco in 1975
by Green March.
SACRED AND SECULAR MUSIC IN MOROCCO
Dinner and music at the Sufi Brotherhood, Zawiyyat Sidi al-Ghazi, outside Erfoud.
BERBER CULTURE & CUSTOMS
Berber
Villagers
of Adghagh
(Moroccan
society
is made
up primarily of
Arabic and “Berber” peoples, properly
known as the Imazighen, or “free people.”)
Berber village of Adghagh, Middle Atlas Mountains. Second from
left top, Josh, Peace Corps Volunteer, first on left bottom, Aicha,
Peace Corps Environmental Director, second is Hicham Moroccan
student, and Dan, Paige, Andrea WPI IQP team.
Traditional Moroccan artisanal crafts
include weaving, mosaics, wood and
stone cutting, calligraphy….
MOROCCAN FAMILY, SOCIETY, AND CUSTOMS
Children in Morocco
Animals and People in Morocco
Tom, Geoff, and new friend, ‘07
Morgan in Zimri, ‘08
The Moroccan Fantasia
Holy
Month
Of
Ramadan
If you have questions, please contact Prof. Bland
Addison, addison@wpi.edu, (509-831-5190).
Hasseb and Morgan, Berber village of Zimri, ‘08