Building Bridges

Although our main destination for this journey is Al Akhawayn University (AUI) in the town of Ifrane, we were able to return to the comfortable world of academia a day early in the capitol of Rabat. 

Dinner at a seafood restaurant right on the beach in Rabat proved an especially wonderful evening with the addition of Professor Saloua Zerhouni of Université Mohammed V Souissi in Rabat and her husband Professor Driss Maghraoui. Saloua has applied to become a Fulbright scholar to Illinois Wesleyan University in the fall, and her husband Driss teaches at AUI. International Office Director Stacey Shimizu arranged with Saloua to have our group meet faculty and administrators from Mohammed V the next day. 

The faculty at Mohammed V welcomed us into a conference room, where they introduced themselves (with much interpretation through Soloua, Illinois Wesleyan Associate Professor of Economics Ilaria Ossella-Durbal, and Professor Zahia Drici). What we thought would be a meet-and-greet became a sharing of research and teaching ideologies. Each professor discussed their research and commented on how much they would love to create connections with American universities. Much of Moroccan higher education is based upon a French model, they said, but the country has been integrating more and more American styles of teaching.

Despite the language barrier, professors found common ground, whether it was the professor who spoke to Environmental Studies Director and Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and International Studies Abigail Jahiel about forests in Morocco, or the economists who chatted with Associate Professor of Economics Diego Mendez-Carbajo. Hispanic Studies Chair and Professor Carolyn Nadeau found a common bond and conversed in Spanish with a professor about the efforts of ecotourism in Latin America, and his hopes to bring it to Morocco.

“This is what it is all about,” Carolyn whispered to me at the table as people talked in several languages. “This is where we build those international bridges.” Carolyn came to Morocco to study the influence that Moroccan Amazigh (or Berber) tribes played on today’s Spanish cuisine. After the meeting, she left to meet with a retired professor who is published on the topic of Moroccan influences when it comes to food. “You can read all you want about food, but to be there makes everything come to life. In the marketplaces where they sell the spices, you can feel the texture, ask the sellers how they use them at home and in what regions they originated. There is nothing else like it.”

Illinois Wesleyan Career Consultant Robyn Walter’s advice was of particular interest to several vice presidents at Mohammed V. A recent report from the Moroccan government has declared the higher education system in a crisis. The strongest criticism is that universities are not preparing students for the job market – creating a high number of highly educated unemployed. An emergency plan is being enacted, with many steps that mirror Robyn’s current work at Illinois Wesleyan with students in the Career Center. Her guidance brought nods of appreciation from the group. 

At Mohammed V, Academic Outreach Librarian and Associate Professor Lynda Duke was able to visit the library, her second library of the day. Earlier in the day, the entire group was invited to tour the National Library of Morocco, which is located in Rabat. The director led us through the elegant glass-and-wood lobby (the highest quality cedar is used to repel the constant humidity), and spoke of the library’s collections.

The main focus of the library is not to provide books and other resources for checkout, but to create a collection of cultural archives. “This is really the traditional role of libraries,” explained Lynda. “They were meant to keep the manuscripts for use by scholars and clergy.” The National Library of Morocco is continuing that tradition, with more than 33,000 rare manuscripts, as well as a growing collection of book, periodicals, multi-media and databases. 

“Our efforts are important to conserve and make known that which is Moroccan,” said Library Director Abdelati Lahlou, whose background is in anthropology. “More than the physical conservation of these rare documents, is a chance to communicate with future generations the heritage of Morocco.” The library is only a year old, constructed near the site of the old library built in the 1920s during the French Protectorate. Like many other efforts, the library is a reflection of a Morocco emerging from its colonial past, and embracing its heritage.

Items, such as maps that date all the way back to the Almohad dynasty of the 12th century, are cataloged and preserved on microfiche. “It is marvelous,” said Lynda. “You can tell there is a focus on scholarly research, but the building has also been designed to be open to as many people as possible, from the expansive lobby where the community can hold exhibitions, to the glass walls inviting in the public. I could have spent two more days there.” 

More days could not be spared, however, as we headed out of Rabat, and on to Ifrane, and AUI.