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This course focuses on the politics of English and relations between the Islamic and the Western world by putting students in Morocco and UIUC in direct contact with each other. The approach to this course is transcultural in that it aims at learning with rather than about each other through dialogue and cultural exchange.

Why Morocco? Because culturally and politically, Morocco is a fascinating country. Morocco was the first nation on earth to recognize the US in 1777, and we have had an unbroken treaty and bond of friendship ever since. Both Arab and Berber cultures flourish in Morocco. The country is rapidly developing, it has excellent transportation and tourist resources, is very safe (safer in most parts than Europe or the US), and is politically very stable. Morocco is both very traditional culturally and yet very moderate in its relations with the West. The population is 99% Sunni Muslim and it has some of the most progressive social policies in the Arab world.

In this course, we'll spend eight weeks before the trip learning about the history, geography, and language situation in Morocco, where nearly all educated Moroccans speak three languages fluently and many speak four or five. We'll learn some basic Moroccan Arabic, develop some lessons and strategies for teaching English to Moroccan high school students, and learn about the norms of cultural interaction in Morocco.

The trip will last 15 days. We'll fly from Chicago to Casablanca via Madrid, spend three days in seminars at Mohamed V University in Rabat, travel by train to Marrakech and then by minibus to Beni Mellal, Kasba Tadla, and Azrou in the Middle Atlast Mountains for a taste of small town life. In Azrou we'll spend three days working with students at the famed "Berber college," Lycee Tarik, and then travel to Fes, Morocco's oldest imperial city, to Casablanca, and then back to Chicago with a stayover in Madrid.

More information on the course--costs, dates for travel, and answers to FAQs--will be available soon. For more information now, contact Mark Dressman at mdressma@illinois.edu or student Robert Philipp at philipp2@illinois.edu.