Middlebury to Open School in Morocco

Starting in the fall of 2016, Arabic language learners will have an alternative destination to study abroad in the Arabic-speaking world: Morocco. Middlebury C.V. Starr Schools Abroad will add its 17th country when it opens a new School in Rabat, Morocco. Partnering with the Mohammed V University, this program joins the School in Amman, Jordan as the second official Middlebury study abroad site in the Arabic-speaking world.

The program will be open to students who have studied at least two years of college-level Arabic. According to Dean of International Programs Jeffrey Cason, in addition to Modern Standard Arabic and the local Moroccan dialect classes, students will also have the option to take classes in Moroccan culture, politics, history, literature or religion, all of which will be taught in Arabic to provide as much immersion and integration in the local culture as possible. There will also be a variety of extracurricular activities to engage in along with their Moroccan peers.

With the suspension of College’s program in Alexandria, Egypt in 2013, the College began exploring other options for students wanting an Arabic immersion experience abroad. According to Cason, the past few years have witnessed an increase in students enrolled in Arabic language classes.

“Middlebury’s School Abroad in Jordan draws students from across North America; in the last two years, students from 28 different Colleges and Universities have studied on our program in Jordan…We expect that in addition to Middlebury students, we’ll be able to attract other students from outside Middlebury on our new program,” Cason said.

With this increased demand in mind, the College considered many other potential locations for a new School, including four different universities in Morocco and one in Oman.

“We were looking for a good university partner that understands our educational mission and a city where we think students will have opportunities for immersion outside the classroom, and we found that in Rabat,” said Cason. “Rabat is an interesting and vibrant city with a lot for students to do,” he said. The decision was also made after discussions with the faculty advisory board for the School in Jordan, but the expectation is that after some redistribution, the overall numbers for students in both Jordan and Morocco will increase.

According to Cason, about half a dozen students have already expressed interest in studying in Morocco. Despite differences between the local dialect and Modern Standard Arabic, Adiza Mohammed ’18 hopes to study abroad in Rabat. Daniel Buchman ’18.5 noted that Morocco exists at an interesting intersection between Europe, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

“I think that I am of an age where I am capable of going into another culture that is drastically different than my own,” said Buchman. “[I’m ready to] put myself out there, which is what I think study abroad is supposed to be about…to give you the tools to engage with the discomfort and to grow from it,” he said.

Middlebury launched the application for the School in Morocco on Oct. 19th for the 2016-2017 academic year.