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Reading recommendations by Dr. Mary Jane Parmentier, Academic Leader, Morocco, May 2026

History/Politics/Society

Deshen, Schlomo (1989). The Mellah Society: Jewish Community Life in Sherifian Morocco. University of Chicago Press.

El Hamel, Chouki (2014). Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race and Islam, Cambridge University Press. (an ASU professor!)

Elmaleh, Rapha’el & Ricketts, George. (2012). Jews under Moroccan Skies: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life, Gaon Web.

Hoffman, Katharine E. & Miller, Susan Gilsen (2010). Berbers and Others: Beyond Tribe and Nation in Maghrib, Indiana University Press.

Mernissi, Fatima (1995), Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood, Perseus Books.

Miller, Susan Gilsen (2013). A History of Modern Morocco, Cambridge University Press.

Zafrani, Haim (2005). Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life in Morocco, Ktav Publishing.

Food and Culture

Gillie Bassan (2008). Flavors of Morocco, Ryland Peters & Small.

Wolfert, Paula (2024). Couscous and other Good Food from Morocco, ECCO Publishing.

Morrison, Alice (2020). Adventures in Morocco. Simon & Shuster.

Literature

Ben Jalloun, Taher. (2000). The Sand Child. Johns Hopkins Press.

Ben Jalloun, Taher. (2006). The Blinding Absence of Light. Penguin Books.

Ben Jalloun, Taher. (2011). A Place in the Old Village. Penguin Books.

Ben Jalloun, Taher (2016).  About My Mother.  Telegram Books.

Bowles, Paul. (1944). The Sheltering Sky. ECCO.

Bowles, Paul. (1955). The Spider’s House. ECCO

Chraibi, Driss (1954). The Simple Past. New York Book Review Classics.

Chraibi, Driss (1972). Mother Comes of Age. Lynne Reiner.

Lalami, Laila (2010). Secret Son, Algonquin Books.

Lalami, Laila (2015). The Moor’s Account. Vintage.

Current Economics

Click here for more information

OECD outlook 2024

Research Journal Articles:

Boussaa, D., & Madandola, M. (2024). Cultural heritage tourism and urban regeneration: The case of Fez Medina in Morocco. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 13(6), 1228-1248.

Wüst, A., & Nicolai, K. (2023). Cultural diplomacy and the reconfiguration of soft power: Evidence from Morocco. Mediterranean Politics, 28(4), 554-579.

Montanari, B., & Teixidor-Toneu, I. (2022). Mountain isolation and the retention of traditional knowledge in the High Atlas of Morocco. The Journal of North African Studies, 27(5), 977-997.

Parmentier, M. J. C. (1999). Secularisation and Islamisation in Morocco and Algeria. The Journal of North African Studies, 4(4), 27-50.

Films

The Sheltering Sky, 1990

The Wind and the Lion, 1975

Babel, 2006

Additional recommendations:

A House in Fez: Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco, by Suzanna Clarke

The Last Storyllers: Tales from the Heart of Morocco, by Richard Hamilton