David L. Boren Awards for International Study

The AMIDEAST Honors Program in North African Studies is designed to provide students the opportunity to study the Maghrib under the mentorship of prominent scholars in the field.  Offered in collaboration with the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS), the Honors Program is intended for academically motivated students with a demonstrated interest in Middle East and North African studies who are prepared to undertake significant research.  Participants must have completed at least one year of college-level Arabic, and preference in the admissions process will be given to students who also have some knowledge of French.

The Honors Program includes a reading seminar on North Africa led by scholars from the U.S., Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia; a research seminar in which students are expected to produce a piece of original research; and semi-intensive instruction in Modern Standard Arabic and Moroccan Arabic.  Students in the program live either with Arabic-speaking Moroccan families or in a private Moroccan student residence hall and attend their classes both at AMIDEAST’s facilities in the bustling Agdal area of the city and on the campus of AMIDEAST’s partner, the College of Letters and Humanities of Mohammed V University – Agdal, near the Royal Palace.  The program will be led in 2010–2011 by Dr. Amal Rassam, Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Queens College of the City University of New York and well-known specialist in North African studies.  Some seminar sessions will be led by other English-speaking faculty drawn from Mohammed V University – Agdal, other Moroccan universities, and universities in Algeria and Tunisia.

The core of the AMIDEAST Honors Program in North African Studies consists of two seminar style courses:

• Seminar in North African Studies (3 contact hours per week; 3 credits)
• Research Seminar (3 contact hours per week; 3 credits)
  

• Arabic (Modern Standard, 4 credits; Media, 3 credits; Moroccan, 3 credits)
• Modern Standard Arabic IV (Arabic 202; 4 credits)
• Modern Standard Arabic V (Arabic 301; 4 credits)
• Modern Standard Arabic VI (Arabic 302; 4 credits)
• Directed Studies in Arabic (Arabic 401; 4 credits; may be repeated for credit up to three times)
• Moroccan Arabic II (Arabic 211; 3 credits)
• Moroccan Arabic III (Arabic 311; 3 credits)
• Media Arabic I (Arabic 215; 3 credits; Co-requisite:  Arabic 201)
• Media Arabic II (Arabic 315; 3 credits; Prerequisite:  Mastery of the material covered in AMIDEAST’s Arabic 201; Co-requisite:  Arabic 202 or higher)

Click here for more information about AMIDEAST's Honors Program in North African Studies Semester/Academic Year in Rabat, Morocco

Keep in mind that not all study abroad programs are right for every student.  You should investigate multiple programs to find one that is right for you.  You will want to evaluate each program’s formal (classroom) and informal instruction, the quality and scope of the program's language component, and the program's administrative structure.  After thinking carefully about what you would like to gain from your experience and researching study abroad programs, select the program that will help you to meet your particular goals.