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AU Abroad moves into Morocco
By Rachel Wood on 3/1/07
American University students can study in Morocco in a new enclave program starting in fall 2007, AU Study Abroad representatives announced on the AU Abroad Web site.
This will be the first AU program to take place in Morocco. Centered in Rabat, Morocco's capital, the program will offer courses in anthropology and art history, as well as the economics and politics courses traditionally offered by AU abroad programs.
AU Abroad Director Sara Dumont said they chose Morocco because it has a rich mixture of African, Arab, French and Islamic influences. AU Abroad also has Arabic-focused study abroad options in Cairo, Egypt, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and until late this summer, Lebanon. Demand for Arabic-speaking study abroad programs has grown as interest in studying Arabic has grown. AU's Arabic language program began officially in 1999 with around 50 students. This year, there are almost 200 students studying Arabic at AU and proposals are in the works to add an Arabic minor, according to Jacques Nalabandian, director of the AU Language Resource Center, who also teaches an upper-level Arabic class and has worked at AU since 2001.
AU Study Abroad spent two years developing the program in Morocco.
There is no language requirement to apply, but knowledge of French is helpful, according to Dumont. Content courses will be taught in English, and students who score well on a language placement test will also be able to take content classes in French at Mohammed V University. Students participating in the program will study modern standard and colloquial Arabic.
All of the enclave teachers are Moroccans with experience teaching international students. During the program, AU students will have access to the library, computer lab and events held at the Mohammed V University.
Homestays with "ordinary working families" will be a central part of the program, Dumont said.
"It won't be an artificial experience, this is real life," she said.
This will be the first AU program to take place in Morocco. Centered in Rabat, Morocco's capital, the program will offer courses in anthropology and art history, as well as the economics and politics courses traditionally offered by AU abroad programs.
AU Abroad Director Sara Dumont said they chose Morocco because it has a rich mixture of African, Arab, French and Islamic influences. AU Abroad also has Arabic-focused study abroad options in Cairo, Egypt, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and until late this summer, Lebanon. Demand for Arabic-speaking study abroad programs has grown as interest in studying Arabic has grown. AU's Arabic language program began officially in 1999 with around 50 students. This year, there are almost 200 students studying Arabic at AU and proposals are in the works to add an Arabic minor, according to Jacques Nalabandian, director of the AU Language Resource Center, who also teaches an upper-level Arabic class and has worked at AU since 2001.
AU Study Abroad spent two years developing the program in Morocco.
There is no language requirement to apply, but knowledge of French is helpful, according to Dumont. Content courses will be taught in English, and students who score well on a language placement test will also be able to take content classes in French at Mohammed V University. Students participating in the program will study modern standard and colloquial Arabic.
All of the enclave teachers are Moroccans with experience teaching international students. During the program, AU students will have access to the library, computer lab and events held at the Mohammed V University.
Homestays with "ordinary working families" will be a central part of the program, Dumont said.
"It won't be an artificial experience, this is real life," she said.
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