Alka Kurian researches in Morocco on a Fulbright US Scholar award

alka kurian

IAS faculty member Alka Kurian spent five months (July 鈥� November 2021) as a Fulbright US Scholar in Morocco to conduct research on digital feminism in the country. She was associated with the University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah in Fes and carried out several activities that included lectures, public talks, panel presentations, surveys, fieldwork, focus groups, and interviews with students, faculty, scholars, women鈥檚 NGO directors, and feminist artivists across the country.

Kurian’s extensive list of activities in Morocco included:

  1. 10/8/21: Gave invited lecture on “Gender and Urban Spaces in India,” Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fes. 
  2. 10/13/201: Gave invited talk on 鈥淎 New Protest Culture: Rise of Fourth-Wave Feminism in Morocco鈥� at the Al Akhwayn University, Ifrane.
  3. 10/21/21: Gave invited lecture on “The Four Waves of Feminism in Morocco,” Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fes.
  4. 10/27/21: Attended the play 鈥淟e Masque鈥� by Naima Zitane, Rabat
  5. 10/28/201: Interviewed Naima Zitane about her 2012 play Dialy, Rabat.
  6. 10/28/21: Interviewed Amina Lofti, director of the Association D茅mocratique des Femmes du Maroc, Rabat.
  7. 11/5/21: Interviewed , member of the 鈥淢oroccan Outlaws鈥� and one of Morocco’s leading women’s rights activists and graphic artists, Mohhamedia.
  8. 11/5/21: Released a  based on a conversation with Zaineb Fasiki about her book Hshouma.
  9. 11/6/21: Interviewed Khadija Tnana, one of Morocco鈥檚 most renowned Postwar and Contemporary feminist artists, Fnideq.
  10. 11/9/21: Interviewed Fathia Saidi (Vice Secretary General) and Hakima Cherkani (Treasurer) of the 鈥楲’union de l’Action F茅ministe, Tangiers.
  11. 11/10/21: Gave an invited talk at the聽School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane.
    • “Gender Representation and Oppositional Cinematic Narratives in India”
  12. 11/12/21: Attended a talk on “Activisme et R茅seaux Sociaux: Le Pouvoir de la Micro-Influence” by Soufianne Hennani and Chama Tahiri, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane
  13. 11/18/21: Conducted a focus group on digital feminism in Morocco with students of the MA in Moroccan Cultural Studies, Identity, and Nationhood, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fes. 
  14. 11/21/21: Attended a webinar on “Violence Against Women in Cyber Space: MENA Region,” hosted by “Forward Global Women.”
  15. 11/24: Gave an invited panel presentation on “New Feminisms in Morocco: The Rural-Urban divide,” hosted by the Faculty of Languages, Letters and Arts, Ibn Tofail University, K茅nitra
  16. 11/25:聽Gave the following invited talk at a conference hosted by the Facult茅 des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines Ain Chock, Universit茅 Hassan II de Casablanca:
    • “Les F茅minismes au Maroc et aux Etats Unis”