Moroccan Cultural Studies Centre

“Space and Cinema in Morocco,”

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An International Conference on
“Space and Cinema in Morocco,”
Organized by the Moroccan Cultural Studies Centre,
University of Fès, Morocco,

This conference aims at providing insight into contemporary film production from Morocco. Focus is both on « films in space » which involves the socio-economic and political context of film production, distribution and consumption, and « space in films » which refers to the representation of different spaces and the spatial details treated in films themselves. Whatever the case might be, the “spatial turn” in social and cultural theory has provided us with a renewed interest in the problematic of space by redirecting our attention not only to how relations of power and discipline are spatially inscribed into social and cultural life, but also to how they are contested, subverted and transformed. Of all other cultural forms, cinema is best suited to reflect this spatial turn, because it is itself a spatial form of culture. On these theoretical grounds, the conference hopes to raise and debate ideas such as the decline of cinema theatres in Morocco, the emergence of new consumption patterns, the intervention of the state/Moroccan Television in the field of cinematic production, as well as issues of colonial and post-colonial representations of space in Moroccan films, gender and space, national identity and globalization. In addition, the organizers seek papers drawing from or expanding on the following themes:

* French Colonial Cinema: A Moroccan Context.
* Otherness in the Hollywood Imaginary: A Moroccan Context.
* Cinema & the politics of (trans)location.
* Trans/nationalism and Reflections on Space in Moroccan Diasporic Cinema.
* Overlapping Territories and Imaginative Geographies in Moroccan Immigration Cinema.
* History and the Production of Space.
* Landscapes, ethnicity and Language.
* Representations of the City and/or the countryside.
* Representations of the body and Space.
* Moroccan cinema & social space.

Please send a 200 word abstract of paper to: lkhayati@hotmail.com Deadline for abstracts/proposals: 15 March 2010; and for full papers 30 April 2010. Participants are expected to cover their own travel costs. However, accommodation and meals are on the University.

For more information please contact: lkhayati@hotmail.com

MCSC

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The Moroccan Cultural Studies Centre is an academic research group affiliated to the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Dhar Al Mahraz, Fez. It is interested in various aspects of Moroccan history, thought, language, literature and culture. It aims to create a forum for research and publications on Moroccan cultural and comparative studies as well as foster an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach to historical, cultural, and literary encounters between Morocco and the West (Great Britain and the United States in particular).
Executive Council

Chairman: Khalid Bekkaoui
Secretary General: Abdellatif Khayyati,
Treasurer: Sadiq Rddad,
Conference and social Organizer: Touriya Khannous
Librarian: Bahanou Akabouch

The Centre Charter

* The Executive Council will be elected for two years.
* The members will hold monthly meetings, 2/3 of the members should be present to make decisions
* Decisions will be taken with a majority vote.
* A member failing to attend three consecutive meetings shall be deemed to have resigned
* Programs and projects will be conducted with the guidelines adopted by the Executive Council
Honorary Members

Dr. Mohamed Chad, Dean of the Faculty of Letters I, Dhar Mahraz, Fez
Dr. Mohamed Laamiri, University Mohamed I, Faculty of Letters, Oujda
Dr. Taib Belghazi, University Mohamed V, Faculty of Letters, Rabat
Dr. David Richards, University of Leeds, England
Dr. John Maier, Brockport State University of New York, the United States of America
Dr. Ezra Engling, Lincoln University, the United States of America

Mailing Address:
The Moroccan Cultural Studies Centre.
Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University,
Faculty of Letters Dhar al Mahraz,
Fez, Morocco.
Phone Number: (035) 64 17 75 and 64 17 39. Fax: (035) 64 08 44

RESEARCH AREAS
1 Moroccan Cross-cultural Studies.
2 Moroccan writings on the West and Western writings on Morocco.
3 Discourses on the city of Fez.
4. Cultural Encounters and dialogues.
5 Translationon of English and American writings on Morocco into Arabic.
6 Translationon of Moroccan literature, culture and thought into English.
7 Compilation of anthologies on Morocco in writings in English.
8 Postcolonial theories and Politics of Identity.

Cultural Activities

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Our Activities
GUEST SPEAKERS

• Dr. David Richards, University of Leeds, England “Reading Colonial Texts: Europe’s Encounter with Africa: “A Reading of Heart of Darkness.” February, 2000
• Dr. Khalid Berkaoui, Faculty of Letters Dhar al Mahraz, Fez, "Rhetoric and Politics of the Third Wor(l)d Eye.” March, 2000
• Dr. Ezra Engling, Lincolin University, USA, "Morocco in Two Calderonian Plays." November 2000
• Mr. Mohammed Daoud, "Islam in/and America" March, 2001
• Dr Charles Lock, Copenhagen University, Denmark, “11 Sept in Terror and Admiration” Thursday 22, June, 2001
• Dr Kate Baldwin, University of Notre Dame, USA, "Postcolonialism and Feminism", July 3, 2001
• Prof. Abd-Arrazaq Sghir, Univ. Abd El Malek Assaidi, Tetouan, Walter Harris and Lawrence of Arabia" January 2002
• Prof. Meriam Ouahidi, Beni Mellah High School, “Discourse of Advertising in Morocco,” 31 January, 2002
• Dr. Abdellatif Akbib, Univ. Abdelmalek Assaidi, Tetuan, Moroccan Short Fiction. May 2002
• Dr Ali Wahidi, Univ. Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah, Fez, “Volibilus and a Tourist Site” (in Arabic), 10 May, 2002
• Dr Brian Edwards Mohammed Mrabet and Paul Bowles: Collaboration and Translation”, December 2002
• Dr Nabil Matar, Florida University, USA, "Barbary and British Women," June 18, 2003.
• Dr. Richard Pennell, Melbourne University, Australia, “British Travelers in Morocco in 1830: A Comparative Approach,” Thursday 18, 2003.

Mr. Abd-Arrazaq Sghir, Univ. Abd El Malek Assaadi, Tetouan, Walter Harris and Lawrence of Arabia" April, 2004
Anouar Majid, “Death in Cancún,” 23, Feb. 2005
Sara Hayke, “Multiculturalism and Cross-cultural communication,” 17, Feb. 2006
Michelle Medina, “Reflection on Moroccan Cinema,” 12, May, 2005
Brain Edwards Seminar “Research and Theories in Globalisation,” 22-23 June, 2006

CONFERENCES and STUDY-DAYS

• Cultural Week on "British Studies in Morocco", 27-31 January, 1997
• "Reading Literature and Culture," Tuesday 18 February 1997.
• Visual Culture, Pedagogy and Politics of Interpretation: 20 March, 1999
• Cultural Identities in Travel Writings, April 2003
• Visual Representations, 7-11 December, 2003
• “Mrabet and Bowles: Literary and Cultural Encounters, 18-19 April 2004.
• Politics of Location Conference, 9-10, December, 2005.