SPRING 2024 - INTERSESSION

Spring 2024 Intersession - ART 1399 01 - 

Common Roots: Religion & Music Practice

This was a course offered in collaboration with Mercer University in Macon, GA, USA.  The course explored interreligious dialogue, particularly between Muslims and Christians, through comparative analysis of core religious texts,  and, more specifically, musical styles and performances informed by pertinent academic scholarship.  Students engaged in a service-learning project with the Azrou Center in which students and professors from Mercer and AUI, along with professional musicians worked with beneficiaires of the Azrou Center's vocational programs on arrangements of a set of traditional and original musical pieces that were performed publicly in a variety of venues, including AUI, the Eglise St. François d’Assise in Fès, Merzouga, and the Azrou Center.

Off-campus travel to Azrou as part of the service-learning component of the course is required along with other travel (to Fès, Merzouga, etc.) for performance and encounter with interfaith actors on the ground. This intersession course included the collaboration with Moroccan singer and song writer Nouamane Lahlou and his colleagues Dr. Montassir Hmala and Younes El Khazan.