Exploration of Moroccan Culture and History

Course Description

USF Code: HIS 3930

The main objective of this class is to introduce students to the diverse and ancient Moroccan history, culture and society which were shaped by so many peoples and civilizations all along history. The hybrid nature of Morocco today cannot be seperated from the plethora of external influences it has succeeded to integrate and absorb.  

The class also tries to explore the dynamics that is visible nowadays in contemporary Morocco where modernity, globalization and westernisation have left a tremendous impact on the life and thoughts of the poeple and how these external influences converge with Islamic values and traditions. Thus it is common to hear French and Arabic mixed in the same sentence or to see people dressed in very modern clothes but sticking to their religious values. Such a dynamics is expressed in the works of artists, writers, civil society or simply young people ready to embrace modernity but in their own terms. 

The ultimate aim of this class is to allow American students to navigate smoothly in this new cutlure, to understand it, to overcome culture shock and stereotypes, and finally to realise that all cultures are the same when you are sufficiently knowledgeable and mindful.