Podcast: Ibn Rushd, Ecotheology, and Morocco’s Environmental Policy by Austin Bodetti

Ecotheology, a new academic discipline and social movement, focuses on the relationship between nature and religion. In a number of Muslim-majority countries, proponents of ecotheology have argued that the Quran, the Hadith, and other religious texts impose a unique obligation on humans: because God placed humans in charge of the environment, they must care for … Read more Podcast: Ibn Rushd, Ecotheology, and Morocco’s Environmental Policy by Austin Bodetti


Women’s History Month: TALIM’s Literacy Participants Visit a Unique Art Exhibit الشهر العالمي للمرأة: نساء برنامج محو الأمية بالمفوضية الأمريكية يزرن معرضا فنيا فريدا

Today, Tangier Medina women beneficiaries of the ​Arabic and Economic ​literacy program of TALIM paid a visit to Mahal Art Space‘s current exhibit: “Tangier: Facets of a Mediterranean Intersection.” This unusual exhibit offers visitors tools and materials to reorganize the photographs according to their taste and conception​,​ “that leads them” says Nouha Ben Yebdri, director of Mahal Art Space, “to unconsciously reach a … Read more Women’s History Month: TALIM’s Literacy Participants Visit a Unique Art Exhibit الشهر العالمي للمرأة: نساء برنامج محو الأمية بالمفوضية الأمريكية يزرن معرضا فنيا فريدا


Youmein Creative Media Festival: 48 Hours in July

July 16-17, 2016

We were thrilled to co-host the second edition of the Youmein Creative Media Festival this past weekend, from July 16-17. The Youmein Festival brought together artists and creative thinkers from across Morocco, France, the United States, Belgium, and Palestine to discuss and produce art centering around the topic of “crisis” or “أزمة”. Artists were challenged to create pieces reflecting on “crisis” within the 48-hour timespan of the Festival.

On Saturday members of Youmein, TALIM, and the public convened for a roundtable discussion featuring Driss Ksikes, a Moroccan journalist and playwright, and Hicham Bouzid, co-director of Arty Farty’s Think Tanger project.

(l-r) Hicham Bouzid, Driss Ksikes, George Bajalia. All photos by Omar Chennai
(l-r) Hicham Bouzid, Driss Ksikes, George Bajalia. All photos by Omar Chennai

The presenters initiated the discussion with their own ideas and perspectives, and the audience participated with discussion and questions. The interactive panel discussion took place in a multitude of languages, Darija, French and English, reflecting the diversity of knowledge and experiences of the participants.

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Global Voices, Chicago and Tangier

TALIM Global Voices group
Tangier Global Voices group, plus ALC Tangier staff: IT wizard Rachid El Mziryahi, teacher Rabia el Antaki, and Director Mark Holbrook

Their voices came wafting up over the Legation courtyard, a springtime Friday evening.  Intrigued, I paid a visit to our group of high school English students enrolled in the Global Voices Initiative program, thanks to our partnership with the American Language Center (ALC) Tangier.  You can watch the videos on the ALC website.

It was practice for their upcoming presentation of a set of three plays, which they developed, wrote in English, and then performed for their audience of American students in Chicago, via a Google + connection.

Meanwhile, the Chicago students were doing the same thing – in Arabic.  Here’s how George Bajalia (he’s smiling from the corner of the screen in the photo below), former Fulbright scholar in performance studies in Tangier, described the scene in Chicago:

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