Podcast: Seeing the Words of Poets: Muḥammad Bennīs and the Visual in Moroccan Poetry

Abstract:  Frustrated by the fragmented scene of modern Morocco poetry, Moroccan poet and critic Muḥammad Bennīs pens the Bayān al-Kitāba in 1981 (“Manifesto of Writing”). The manifesto, which was published in Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, a journal Bennīs co-founded in 1974, set forth a new concept of writing steeped in Morocco’s visual culture. Throughout the Bayān, Bennīs … Read more Podcast: Seeing the Words of Poets: Muḥammad Bennīs and the Visual in Moroccan Poetry


Climate change, mobilities, and social remittances in Skoura M’Daz, Morocco

Rachael Diniega © Nabil El Asri

Abstract Climate change and migration have a complex relationship, and Morocco presents an interesting case of intertwining environmental change, national development policies, and human mobilities. For her dissertation research, Rachael looks at the influence of social remittances, intangible non-material transfers across migrant connections, on climate adaptation and sustainable development in Skoura M’Daz, Morocco. Rachael Diniega … Read more Climate change, mobilities, and social remittances in Skoura M’Daz, Morocco


Watermelons, Dates, and Living with Water Scarcity in Zagora

Jamie Fico

Abstract Southeast Morocco is known for its desert landscape, green oases, and nomadic and date-growing heritage. Today, the production of watermelon for export is increasing in places such as the Draa Valley in the Province of Zagora. Moroccan researchers and policy makers are calling for new water and agriculture strategies as the country faces increasing … Read more Watermelons, Dates, and Living with Water Scarcity in Zagora


Narrative Subversions: “Unnatural” Narration and an Ethics of Engagement in the Work of Mahi Binebin

Dr. Calhoun Doyl

Abstract This podcast presents work related to my first book project, The Suicide Archive: Reading Resistance in the Wake of French Empire—which concludes with a chapter on suicide bombing, focused on Moroccan writer and artist Mahi Binebine’s (b. 1959) novel Les Étoiles de Sidi Moumen (2010)—and a second book project, Narrative Subversions: Strange Voices in … Read more Narrative Subversions: “Unnatural” Narration and an Ethics of Engagement in the Work of Mahi Binebin


A History of Franco-Muslim Education in Morocco and in Northwest Africa

Biography: Dr. Samuel Anderson is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Pomona College in Claremont, California. He received a PhD in African History from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2018. His research focuses on education, race, and religion in northwest African Muslim societies under colonial rule. His current project examines the … Read more A History of Franco-Muslim Education in Morocco and in Northwest Africa


Podcast: Landscape and Identity in Medieval Morocco, by Dr. Abbey Stockstill

Dr. Abbey Stockstill

Abstract Why does Marrakesh look the way that it does? The Red City is the topic of the forthcoming book by Dr. Abbey Stockstill, in which she discusses the medieval city’s relationship with its founding dynasties, the local landscape, and Berber politics in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. As the notion of what it meant … Read more Podcast: Landscape and Identity in Medieval Morocco, by Dr. Abbey Stockstill


Podcast: The “Lush Garden” of Andalusian Music by Dr. Carl Davila

Biography Dr. Carl Davila holds a PhD in Arabic Studies from Yale University (2006). He lived in Fez off and on for nearly three years in the early 2000s and has visited Morocco frequently since then. Being the first scholar to write extensively in English on the Andalusian music in Morocco, he has published two … Read more Podcast: The “Lush Garden” of Andalusian Music by Dr. Carl Davila


Podcast: Modern Art and Architecture in Morocco in the Aftershock of the 1960 Agadir Earthquake by Riad Kherdeen

Photograph of the Agadir central post office, designed by Jean-François Zevaco in 1963. The photo comes from Thierry Nadau’s chapter in Architecture française d’outer-mer.

Biography Riad Kherdeen studies global modern art and architecture, with a focus on the region of West Asia/Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He is working on a doctoral dissertation project on modernist art and architecture in Morocco related to the Agadir earthquake of 1960 titled “Spectral Modernisms: Decolonial Aesthetics and Haunting in the Aftershock … Read more Podcast: Modern Art and Architecture in Morocco in the Aftershock of the 1960 Agadir Earthquake by Riad Kherdeen


Podcast: Queens Of Words: Moroccan Women Zajal Poets by Catherine Cartier

Abstract: Zajal, which flourished in 14th century Andalusia, is a genre of poetry composed in spoken Arabic—Moroccan Arabic/Darija in this case. The genre reemerged in postcolonial Morocco, when it was largely published in newspapers. The recent history of zajal may appear male dominated: the 1992 edition of Afaq, the Journal of the Moroccan Writer’s Union, … Read more Podcast: Queens Of Words: Moroccan Women Zajal Poets by Catherine Cartier


Podcast: Roots and Traces of Contemporary Cultural Life in Tangier

By: George Bajalia and Aida Alami In this discussion at Youmein 2021: Roots and Traces, anthropologist George Bajalia and journalist Aida Alami explore the roots and traces of contemporary cultural life in Tangier, especially as they relate to northern Morocco’s border regions.  From questions of diversity and difference to the roots of present debates around … Read more Podcast: Roots and Traces of Contemporary Cultural Life in Tangier