Spain & Morocco
Challenges and Coexistence in Neighboring Cultures
In our current world climate, there is symbolic meaning to crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Africa and Europe, Morocco and Spain, and the Muslim and Western worlds. As an historic gateway, the merging point of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean has been witness to some of the most important human migrations in history. From the Berber and Arabic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century AD to the expulsion of Jews and Moriscos in the 15th and 16th centuries, or the current migrations, oftentimes clandestine, of North Africans and Sub-Saharans into Spain, the geographic significance of this passage has shaped the hopes of individuals and the history of cultures and religions.
This seminar explores the links between Morocco and Spain on a variety of levels: the rich cultural and historic heritage from the Al-Andalus era, the intersection of the “developing” and “developed” world, and the global impact of terrorism and increasing animosity between historically Muslim and Christian societies. Special attention is given to Human Rights within the context of clandestine migrations, to the unsolved political and humanitarian issues affecting the people of the Western Sahara and to the importance that Education has in determining the future of society.
This seminar makes connections with Spanish and Moroccan faculty, journalist, leaders of NGOs and foundations, government officials, college students, primary and secondary school students and teachers, social and political activists, agricultural producers, arts-and-crafts students, entrepreneurs, intercultural mediators, artists and musicians in order to discuss a wide range of topics including ethnic diversity, religious and cultural pluralism, human rights, education, ethnohistory, globalization, geopolitics, economic inequalities or development. Participants visit the Spanish cities of Seville, Córdoba and Algeciras and the Moroccan cities of Tangiers, Tetouan, Chefchaouen, Rabat, and Casablanca.