Category Archives: Africa

Three Interesting Links from Morocco

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This post is simply to pass on a few links, all relating to Morocco.

The first is to the site for the Maroc Blog Awards. The title is slightly misleading because you don’t just vote on blogs. There is an award for the photo, Facebook group, and Twitterer of the year, among others. Morocco and Moroccans don’t have a huge online presence. It’s a small country. But they took to the internet relatively early in the global scheme of things. I attended a conference about the internet in Morocco in the mid 1990s and it was packed. It is also a pretty well wired country and lots of Moroccans who are active in online media outside of Morocco still prominently identify their online selves as Moroccan, so there is some good stuff for voters to choose from. It will be interesting to see, however, if any of the recently arrested bloggers. The latest was on December 8.

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Visualizing Empires Decline

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Here’s an interesting visualization of the expansion and contraction of colonial powers from the 19th century through the present day. I assume the shapes include the actual countries of Britain, Spain, France and Portugal and that their size in the end reflects, in part, their land mass. The description accompanying the video notes, “The data refers to the evolution of the top 4 maritime empires of the XIX and XX centuries by extent.” But each of these countries still occupies some overseas territory that is in dispute. One is certainly aware of this living in the north of Morocco where there are two Spanish enclaves.

Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.

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Freedom of the Press in the Maghreb

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Upon the death of his father, it looked as if Morocco might be on its way toward total freedom of expression.  This post is too short to go into much detail, but tentatively at first, then progressively with more and more confidence the media and the arts began to confront previously taboo subjects including corruption in government and the private sector, human rights abuses, gender oppression, linguistic and cultural suppression of minorities, policies in the Western Sahara, homosexual rights, etc.

There was shock when the Moroccan magazine TelQuel was able to publish an investigative piece on “The Salary of the King,” and get away with it.  Under his father Hassan the II such matters were kept as secret as nuclear launch codes.  I don’t mean to say that the media totally ignored all that was wrong in Morocco until the liberalization, either.  But when something was  reported, it was done very carefully, with great care as to who was bore the blame.  All of that changed in the years following the elevation to the throne of Mohammed VI.

Recently, however, there have been a number of setbacks and it has been hard to watch.  Continue reading →

Cable News Has Massive Information Resources, William Kamkwamba Has a Few Library Books. Who Makes Better Use?

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I’m not one of those who get’s all his news from The Daily Show, I swear, but as Jon Stewart points out in this segment, it’s hard to get it anywhere else.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
CNN Leaves It There
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

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But at least they are making sure Saturday Night Live gets the facts straight.

And then there’s this guy. Look what he did with some scraps that, quite frankly, a junkyard owner wouldn’t have bothered to save.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
William Kamkwamba
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

He did all that based on images in a library book? It took me hours to set up the surround sound in my family room, and I had diagrams and specific color coded cables! I’m calling William Kamkwamba next time. You know all those leaks in the Big Dig Tunnels Here in Boston where I live, they should have just told William Kamkwamba what they wanted done. Remember the Mars Climate Orbiter that NASA lost because they confused Metric and Imperial measurements? Maybe William Kamkwamba should have taken charge. I’m exaggerating, of course, but this kid’s story does make you wonder, if he can do that with what he had, what would he do with all the benefits I have. As he says in the interview, what if he had Google?

Journalism and Gender

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Here are two articles that touch on freedom of the press and gender in the Islamic world.

A journalist in Afghanistan who had a death sentence for blasphemy commuted to 20 years in prison has now been released, officials say.

Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh has been pardoned by President Hamid Karzai, the Afghan justice ministry confirmed.

Relatives of Mr Kambaksh said he had already left Afghanistan as he had been granted asylum by a European country.

In 2007, he was convicted of distributing material that questioned Islamic attitudes to women.

Some products promise viagra in canada to elevate the level of pain or embarrassment in men. That is why it is so important to find the correct and effective solution for this horrible cheap levitra pills disease. A commander viagra https://www.martinblaser.com/excerpt.html study showed that men who have used it once or before swear by its use. When you get a Sildenafil citrate pills, you should make lifestyle discount generic viagra changes and consume healthy diet. Media rights groups have welcomed the release of Mr Kambakhsh, which they say is the result of persistent lobbying.

via Afghan Journalist Freed from Jail

In this second article, a journalist was arrested, but not for anything she said or did.  Unlike Mr Kambakhsh, she wasn’t charged with blasphemy or with some crime against the state, as dissident journalist so often are.  Her crime was her attire.  She wasn’t dressed properly.

A Sudanese court ruled on Monday that journalist Lubna Ahmad Al-Hussein should be fined two hundred dollars for wearing trousers; considered an indecent outfit in Sudan – applying Islamic Sharia in their law. It’s worth mentioning that Lubna was threatened of a verdict amounting to 40 whip lashes…  More than a thousand persons, including numerous women in trousers, demonstrated in front of the court on Monday in solidarity with the journalist. The police broke up the demonstrators and detained forty eight female activists and journalists on the charge of inciting a riot.

via Trouser-wearing Sudanese journalist escapes flogging, fined $200

It’s worth pointing out that this article is from the site Meedan, a site with the goal of connecting Arabic and English speakers by taking advantage of machine-assisted translation technology.  A useful resource.  More on that later.

Morocco to fund overhaul of universities / Conference for Arab youth and media takes place in Tunis

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This is good news.

The Moroccan government will provide universities with resources to boost reforms under a far-reaching 2009-20012 education emergency plan.

The government and universities signed 17 agreements to promote higher education at a ceremony on Tuesday (October 6th) presided over by King Mohammed VI. With nearly 12.6 billion dirhams earmarked for the improvements, the plan will enlarge and improve infrastructure, revamp facilities and instruction, increase universities’ intake capacity and promote scientific research.

But the investment is much needed.

The backdrop for the recent agreements is a 2007 World Bank report on education in the Arab world that sharply criticised Morocco for failing to implement widespread reforms. The report cited a lack of systematic evaluation of students, an alarming rise in dropout rates, the small budgets allocated to schools, and the inability of educational institutions to prepare students for the workforce. Following these findings, King Mohammed VI urged the government to create the emergency education plan.

You can read the full story “Morocco to fund overhaul of universities” on Magharebia.com, but I taught for six years in the Moroccan university system, and Moroccan university students deserve a system of education that is worthy of their academic talents and skills. 

Another article by Mona Yahia also, on Magharebia.com, discusses a recent meeting of Arab youth throughout the region.
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Young people from all over the Maghreb and the wider Arab world met in Tunis on Monday (October 5th) for a three-day seminar on moulding the media to match the aspirations of Arab youth.

Delegates from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, Egypt, Yemen, Palestine and Sudan drafted a number of recommendations at the event, which took place under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Physical Education in collaboration with the Arab League.

“The topics discussed were important and motivated us to exchange expertise with participants from various countries, and discuss with them means of developing youth-oriented information in the Arab world, especially with the appearance of other media that can threaten youth,” said Karima Weslati, a member of the Tunisian media, who took part in the event.

The full story is availabe at”Arab youth call for media that reflect their interests” on Magharebia.com

I’ve got an iPhone App!

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Icon for Africas Islamic Experiences- History, Culture, and Politics

Icon for Africas Islamic Experiences- History, Culture, and Politics

I’ve got an iPhone app! I don’t mean a new app on my iPhone. I’ve far too many of those already. I mean that is I have created an iPhone app…kind of…

What has really happened is that a book I helped edit has been turned into an application. The volume comes, in part, from a conference on Islam and Africa I helped organize as a graduate assistant under the direction of Ali A. Mazrui for his Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University. Before leaving the Institute when I began working for NITLE, my colleague and I had edited a number of the conference papers and begun initial steps toward assembling a volume on the topic. But as the book was not to be simply conference proceedings, but rather a truly cohesive collection of essays on the subject, the project wasn’t finished.
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I wasn’t sure what happened to the project until Professor Mazrui sent me the book. I later discovered the app by accident when I was searching for applications that might be useful for the teaching of Arabic.

Though I am far from an impartial critic, I found it is an interesting and impressive volume, composed only in part of essays developed from papers delivered at the Islam and Africa conference. Because of this, I can’t take much credit for the book. It was, as Professor Mazrui so graciously acknowledges, a team effort, but it is definitely his vision, engagement and leadership that originated the project and saw it through to its completion.

Liberal Education Today : What Function for Study Abroad? Service Learning in International Studies Programs

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Liberal Education Today has published a brief piece I wrote about the integration of service learning programs and study abroad programs.

The post gives examples of study abroad programs with a service learning component at Sewanee: the University of the South, Luther College and Pitzer College that allow students to work with microfinance programs in South Asia, impoverished communities in Cape Town, and vaccine development programs in Botswana.  In each case the the service learning component provides experiential learning as students engage important social issues.

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Liberal Education Today (LET) is a blog reporting on emerging technologies relevant to higher education.  It is maintained by Bryan Alexander and engages topics including pedagogy, copyright, libraries, media services, social software and other developments in educational technology and liberal education.

Treaty of Peace and Friendship

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Did you know:

Morocco is one of the first countries to recognize the independence of the United States as the Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdullah issued a declaration in 1777 allowing American ships access to Moroccan ports. In 1787 a Treaty of peace and friendship was signed in Marrakech and ratified in 1836. It is still in force making it the longest unbroken treaty in the U.S history.

The U.S had also its first consulate in Tangier in 1797 in a building given by the sultan Moulay Slimane. It is the oldest U.S diplomatic property in the world.
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Below is the Treaty called the “Marrakech Treaty” in its original form as was written in 1786.

via Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

Academic Freedom Media Review

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The Academic Freedom Media Review is compiled on a weekly basis by Scholars at Risk.  This is the review for  September 4 – 11, 2009

An Activist Adjunct Shoulders the Weight of a New Advocacy Group
Audrey Williams June, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/10

Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh is freed and goes abroad
Reporters Without Borders, 9/7

GLOBAL: Researchers in dangerous times
Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 9/6

TURKMENISTAN: Reverse student travel ban
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Iran’s Universities Punish Students Who Disputed Vote
Robert F. Worth, The New York Times, 9/5

U.S. scholarships get Cuban college students expelled
Wilfredo Cancio Isla, Miami Herald, 9/4

On academic freedom
Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy, 9/3

The Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) is an international network of universities and colleges responding to attacks on sholars because of their words, their ideas and their place in society.  SAR promotes academic freedom and defends the human rights of scholars and their communities worldwide.