CAES Morocco: Leading Across Differences

  While in country, I have been intrigued by the range of languages spoken by the Moroccans we have interacted with. Whether it be tour guides, students, or local vendors, most of the people I have met know at least three distinct languages. This inspired me to dive deeper into language ability in Morocco and how that plays a role in social status and mobility.  Morocco has two official languages: Arabic and Amazigh. However, other languages commonly found in the country include French, English, and Spanish. A study conducted through surveying students in Casablanca found that most of the students speak Arabic at home but still incorporate varying degrees of other languages; however, 75% of the students never speak Amazigh. It also showed that besides Amazigh, most students found high importance in knowing the other languages - Arabic, English, and French (Bouziane, 2020). This research indicates there is a general positive outlook on understanding and speaking other lan...

  While in Morocco, we have visited several cities that have history seeping through them. These cities consist of downtown areas like we experienced in Casablanca and Rabat, and we also experienced medinas in Tangier and Fez. When walking through the Medinas, you get to see a glimpse in people’s daily lives. Medinas are a pinpoint of historic significance that contain bustling traffic, narrow walkways, fountains, and mosques. To us, it’s a tourist attraction. To residents of Morocco, it is how they make income, feed their families, and sleep in their homes. Since I am able bodied, I had little to no issue navigating the pattern of the city or overcoming physical obstacles. However, I began to think while we were touring the Medina in Fez how it must be difficult for someone with a physical disability to be able to do the basic necessities of life while living in the Medina.  Medinas have been a vital part of Morocco since it was first established. The word “medina” transl...

During my experience in Morocco, one of the identities that has stood out the most was religion, specifically Islam and the role it plays in Moroccan culture and everyday life. Islam is an monotheistic abrahamic religion that Muhammad founded after receiving revelations from an angel in a cave   (Rahman et al., 2018).  Coming from a loosely Christian background, I've noticed how deeply religion is woven into daily routines, leadership styles, agriculture, family life, and community relationships. Observing this has helped me better understand how identity can shape an entire society's values and priorities.  About 99% of Morocco's population identifies as Muslim (Morocco-United States Department of State, 2024), with Islam playing a major role in social and cultural life. Religion is not only practiced privately like it is in America, it's also reflected publicly through daily calls to prayer, Ramadan traditions, customs, and community expectations. The values emphasi...

One experience during our visit to the École Nationale d’Agriculture de Meknès (ENA) stood out to me beyond agriculture itself. During the presentation, I became fascinated by their highly competitive admissions process and began thinking about social status through the lens of educational opportunity. Educational institutions often function as gateways for social mobility, yet access is not always equally distributed. The World Bank (2018) identifies education as one of the strongest pathways for improving social mobility and expanding life opportunities worldwide. Research suggests that educational opportunities strongly influence future advancement, while barriers related to access and socioeconomic factors continue to shape outcomes (El Kallal, 2024). Similar discussions surrounding higher education in Morocco have identified ongoing challenges related to educational access and equity within the broader system (Ezzahra & Haoucha, 2025). What made this field trip especially me...

  I first heard the term “Amazigh’’ from our tour guide in Casablanca. The Amazigh people are North Africa's indigenous inhabitants whose history in Morocco dates back thousands of years. Their continuing culture includes distinct languages, tribal communities and a strong connection to the land. The name “Berber” originated with outsiders, tied to the Greek and Roman word for “barbarian’’. Today many view it as outdated. Despite colonization, Arabization and political pressure, the Amazigh identity has persisted through language, traditions and cultural practices (FUNCI, 2020; Minority Rights Group, n.d.). Most people now use “Amazigh,” meaning “free people.” This return to their original name signals the Amazigh's struggle for identity. Amazigh communities are found throughout Morocco and North Africa and form a significant part of the population of Morocco. Our Moroccan tour guides, all fully or partially Imazighen, emphasize that while outsiders call them Berbers, they pref...

 Before I travelled here to Morocco, I was only vaguely familiar with the Berbers (ie. Amazigh people). On arriving here, I started learning more about them. The Amazigh people are the historically indiginous population, and much of Moroccan culture exists upon the foundations they laid out. The "Arabization" of the country only added an extra layer on top of existing Amazigh cultures and traditions, which is a fact laid out by a handful of our tourguides thusfar as well. Encyclopedia Brittanica highlights that during the spread of Arab cultures (and the Islamic religion), the rise of written Arabic as a script had reduced the Amazigh tongue to a folk language, meaning that it was primarily spread orally (Brett, 2019). In more recent times, one of the Amazigh languages has been revived as a written language called "Tamazight." I've noticed this language and its script on the roadsigns we pass by, or on buildings such as the government buildings with French, Arab...