Hoeft in Morocco
Mary Hoeft , Professor of Communication Arts and French at the University of Wisconsin-Barron County, has been selected as a 2008 Fulbright-Hays Study Abroad Seminar Participant. She is one of sixteen educators chosen to study in the African country of Morocco.
The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program provides opportunities for overseas experience to educators and administrators with responsibilities for curriculum development in fields related to humanities, languages, and area studies. All seminars are in non-western European countries and are designed to provide a broad and introductory cultural orientation to a particular country. The program is geared towards those educators who demonstrate the need to develop and enhance their curriculum through short-term study and travel abroad. There are seven seminars being offered for Summer 2008 with 16 positions per seminar.
When asked why she had applied for the Fulbright-Hayes program, Hoeft responded, “People from the Maghreb region of Africa now make up ten percent of the French population. I need to better understand their culture.” Hoeft will study the Arabo-Islamic-Berber civilization of the Kingdom of Morocco. The six-week seminar will focus on the impact of globalization and modernization on this traditional culture.
The group that Hoeft is traveling with will meet on June 25 for a three day orientation prior to flying to Morocco on June 28. During her first week in Morocco, Hoeft will travel to the capital, Rabat, for an intensive language and cultural orientation. Topics covered will be traits of Islam in Morocco, education in Morocco, art and music, the evolving position of women in Moroccan society, and the Berber element of Moroccan identity and culture.
The travel phase of the seminar will include visits conducted by academics, artisans, artists and writers. Hoeft will travel to small towns and rural villages, including the Middle Atlas mountains, an agricultural community south of Marrakesh. She will also visit the Imperial Cities of Meknes, Fez, and Marrakesh and will travel to oasis villages in the Sahara desert. She will also have an opportunity to visit Al Akhawayn University, Morocco’s only English-language university.
Included in the seminar is a homestay with a Moroccan family, designed to provide seminar participants with an intimate window into Moroccan family life, culture, and customs.
The final portion of Hoeft’s Fulbright-Hays seminar includes a two-week independent study program. Hoeft will be allowed to choose her focus of study.
This will be Hoeft’s first time studying in Morocco. In 2004, she traveled to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal where she taught English at an orphanage and at one of the public schools.
Professor Hoeft teaches French and Communication Arts at the UW-Barron County. In 2005, she was named a Wisconsin Teaching Scholar and a Wisconsin Idea Fellow.