Jun 27, 2005
Live from the Morocco WHA
Greetings from al-Akhawayn University, Morocco. I arrived two days ago, and after a whirlwind tour of al-Jibbia, Casablanca, and Rabat, I settled, winded but invigorated, at the campus here in Ifrane. The university here has been wonderfully accomodating to me and the other 150 or so World Historians who have traveled here from such far-flung points as Koula Lumpur and Northern Kentucky University. Their facilities are truely world class. The year's twin themes are "Africa in World History" and "The Mediterranean in World History" -- so Morocco and al-Akhawayn together made a perfect setting for the proceedings. Kudos all around to Morocco, the University, and the WHA
Given suitable breaks in the proceedings, I'll try to send back some quasi-regular updates regarding the conference proceedings. At the moment, however, let me just ruminate on what an amazing thing the academic life can be. What a fine yet bizarre thing it is to be whisked from the American midwest to the mid-Atlas mountains of Morocco, and find oneself in the company of such a lovely group of people. For lunch I strolled to the local marché with a Sudanese colleague currently teaching in Malasia. I speak French far worse than the locals, and he speaks Arabic far better, and together we were able to get by quite nicely -- all the while speaking English to one another. Certainly this is an example of the positive side of Globalization.
Given suitable breaks in the proceedings, I'll try to send back some quasi-regular updates regarding the conference proceedings. At the moment, however, let me just ruminate on what an amazing thing the academic life can be. What a fine yet bizarre thing it is to be whisked from the American midwest to the mid-Atlas mountains of Morocco, and find oneself in the company of such a lovely group of people. For lunch I strolled to the local marché with a Sudanese colleague currently teaching in Malasia. I speak French far worse than the locals, and he speaks Arabic far better, and together we were able to get by quite nicely -- all the while speaking English to one another. Certainly this is an example of the positive side of Globalization.