Algerian scholars Amina Leghima and Lila Chabane, 2011 AIMS Maghribi Grantees at TALIM's Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed Library I hope not; I hope this is not the end of a small, effective scholarship program. I hope that someone in a position to do something – say a senior US Government Executive Branch official – will … Read more The Last of the Maghribi Grantees?
Geography lesson (image from Kidsmaps.com) The Maghrib (or Maghreb) is the accepted term for North Africa. The Maghrib was the birthplace of the Arab Spring (Tunisia). Its latest blossoming of freedom was in Libya. The Maghrib is where AIMS Maghribi Grantees come from. Or came from. Click on the above link, and this is what … Read more Maghribi Scholars Need Not Apply
TALIM's Fatima Benguerch with CLS students and women's literacy group As the State Department funded 2011 Arabic Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program in Tangier draws to a close, it's time to reflect on what makes Tangier a special place to learn Arabic. Tangier is but one of several sites for CLS Arabic programs; there is … Read more CLS Tangier: Language, Culture & Heritage
"Shnoo the Hell is Going on H'naa?" – the subtitle to Aaron Sakulich's book Moroccan Arabic (Collaborative Media International) – probably captures the bewilderment of many a foreign student of darija or Moroccan colloquial Arabic. For modern day students trying to fathom how to transition from what they learn in Modern Standard or classical Arabic … Read more Deciphering Moroccan Arabic, 1911 – 2011
Here's another example of how farsighted Senator William Fulbright was. Fulbright, after whom the US Government scholarships for international exchange are named, probably didn't imagine that his program would be funding documentary films, but his intent – that funds from the disposal of surplus World War II materiel further international understanding – couldn't be better … Read more The Dressmakers Premieres in Tangier
Some people, when confronted with terms like "branding" and "logo" think crass commercialism. Well, there is an aspect of that in what I am trying to accomplish: I would like the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies to better "sell" its "products." Here they are: – Only US National Historic Landmark outside the United … Read more Rebranding TALIM Starts With Its Logo
Three profs from orient did come. West, to Tangier. Our visitors: three Algerian professors from the University of Guelma. Guelma, located in Algeria's Far East, is about as far from Tangier as you can get in Algeria. The University's name – 08 Mai 1945 – is a giveaway to its location, near the town of … Read more Maghrib Triangulation: Guelma-Tunis-Tangier
Twenty years ago, in the magical Belgian film Toto le héros, we saw a glimpse of the future: walking down the street, you're confronted with wiring, plumbing, and tubing coming out of the most unexpected places. It's the Centre Pompidou effect, but without the discipline. I've seen the future, and it's here in the medina. … Read more Wired, Wireless, Haywire: Legation’s Trimlines Get Sidelined
Does TALIM pass the SAT* test? *SAT stands for Save America's Treasures, a US National Park Service program which, according to the NPS, "is one of the largest and most successful grant programs for the protection of our nation’s endangered and irreplaceable cultural heritage." TALIM Board members, Fellows, Friends of the Legation, interested citizens, and … Read more Save America’s Treasured Legation
Anyone reading this blog over the last few weeks might get the idea that Morocco lives under a big rain cloud. Definitely not the case. There is a sunny side to the country, and we've been there: Marrakesh. I even groused about its tourist-trap side, though the city is much more than beads and baubles. … Read more AIMS In Marrakesh, TALIM In Morocco
