Note: Marking its 10th edition in 2011, TALIM’s April Seminars have attracted audiences from Tangier, the rest of Morocco, and beyond. This year, with the theme of Tangier’s Ports: Circles of Impact, we piggybacked on the US Trade Mission which participated in the Med-Log (logistics, with a focus on foreign investment) Conference. – – – … Read more Live Blogging The 2011 TALIM April Seminar
At left: American Consul in Tangier, James De Long, circa 1861 (Click on photo to enlarge to full-size pop up). Thanks to Tangier native and Parisian pediatrician (and author) Philip Abensur, we have this photo of the Civil War era Consul James De Long. De Long, who served from September 1861 through March 1862, might … Read more Topic In Search of Historian: The US Civil War in Tangier, Morocco
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
190 years ago, in 1821, Morocco's Sultan Moulay Slimane (the French transliteration tends to be used, vice the more familiar to Anglophones "Suleiman") gave the original building of the Tangier Legation to the United States. Now, 190 doesn't have quite the same ring as 200, but this is notice to those who care about such … Read more 1821: Sultan Moulay Slimane Gives Tangier Legation to U.S.
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
It has something to do with completing one's research before the end of the calendar year, so December turned out to be Tunisian month in Tangier for three AIMS Maghribi Scholars – two of whom ended their stays in Morocco with presentations at TALIM. Yesterday it was art and architecture with Wissem Abdelmoula; today it … Read more Tunisian Week at TALIM
TALIM gets its share of AIMS Maghribi Scholars (the American Institute for Maghrib Studies grant program for inter-Maghrib research). Actually, Morocco gets the lion's share of scholars from Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Libya. At TALIM, we get to meet these scholars, who all have interesting stories to tell about their specializations, from architecture to zoology. … Read more Wissem Abdelmoula Shares the Fruit of His Research
The festive music wafting up the hill to the medina was a giveaway: it was either a wedding (unlikely in that it was midday) or His Majesty was in town. Yesterday, Morocco's King Mohammed VI was in Tangier to be briefed on the multimillion dollar plans to convert the port. For centuries, fishing boats, ferries, … Read more Tangier: Old Port, New Port
Because I like to delve into parallel history, here's what was going on in Tangier December 3rd, 1940: A band of Italian hooligans entered the British Post Office, tore down some photographs and news bulletins and damaged the counter grille. There seems to be no necessity to comment upon these events, which will be treated … Read more 70 Years Ago: Tangier Under Franco’s Rule
Right now it's Ramadan, and the month of August, so it's supposed to be quiet, right? The faithful are too tired, hungry, or thirsty to stay awake over books, and the un-Islamic or non-Muslim are expected to stay in Europe, perhaps awaiting better weather and the assurance of daytime food come mid-September. So why is … Read more The Scholars of Summer
