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 was history and water with Aida Khaled (photo, with University of Tangier-Tetouan professors Cherif Ertitbi Ouezzani and Adil Hafidh Alaoui).
In a lively roundtable discussion, Aida Khaled held her own with senior faculty members from the History and Engineering departments, with civil society participants from the environmental sector. Her focus – water usage through history in desert oases – was as interdisciplinary as her audience.
With the Ottoman Empire stopping at the Moroccan border, but with Andalusian refugees having peopled all of the Maghrib countries, the chances for comparitive history were multiplied. France colonized, in varying degrees, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, and the accompanying industrialization and commercial farming had its impact on water rights and distribution. It was a perfect topic to engage with a targeted audience.
Our hope is that now that we've done several small events with scholars from the Maghrib, American AIMS and Fulbright grantees will also share their research with interested audiences in Tangier.
Gerald Loftus
