One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.
— Henry Miller
Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco
Morocco
One of the founding journeys of The College Fellowship unfolds in Morocco — a country shaped by more than twelve centuries of dynastic history.
At the meeting point of Africa, Europe and the Arab world, Morocco has long been a crossroads of cultures, faiths and ideas.
Woven through this history is a deep tradition of learning. In Fez, Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in the ninth century, became one of the world’s earliest and longest-standing centres of higher learning. Modern Morocco continues to build on that inheritance through a significant expansion of higher education — creating new universities and institutions, extending access across the country, and investing in research, science, technology and innovation.
At the same time, Morocco reflects many of the defining questions facing societies around the world: how we respond to climate change and water scarcity; create opportunities for a new generation; navigate rapid technological and economic change; address inequality; and balance progress with culture, identity and tradition.
From its Atlantic and Mediterranean cities to the villages of the Atlas Mountains and the landscapes of the Sahara, Morocco brings strikingly different geographies and ways of life into close proximity.
It is across these different landscapes and communities that The College Fellowship
begins its exploration of Morocco today. In collaboration with international and local
partners, students examine its challenges, opportunities and aspirations.
The work of Dr Donna Hicks of Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for
International Affairs, whose research has focused on dignity and its role in human
relationships, provides an intellectual framework for the programme.
Alongside Global Dignity and CorpsAfrica, students encounter the human dimensions of the programme at first hand — gaining insight into the circumstances that shape people’s lives.