- Details
-
Published on Monday, 28 November 2011 09:26
Ifrane, November 28, 2011 – Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane has announced a new Master of Arts degree in Islamic Studies, offering a unique, high-level graduate program in the humanities and social sciences and the liberal arts to advanced students with a strong background in Islamic and religious affairs.
The program has been operating in a pilot phase for nearly a year, with over a dozen students with various levels of professional experience in the Moroccan Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs studying English, humanities, and the social sciences at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane. Dr. Connell Monette, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at Al Akhawayn University, has been part of the program’s faculty and serves as the its coordinator. In reflecting on the program, Dr. Monette noted that “this new graduate degree at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane represents another milestone in the university’s efforts to promote the liberal arts and the humanities and social sciences as a key way to advance Morocco’s national development through advanced education for its citizen-leaders.”
The program was developed in partnership with the Ministry, which provides substantial financial support. The curriculum and approach was developed with input from many individuals and institutions with expertise in Islamic Studies, including Dr. Baber Johansen of Harvard University, among others, and includes in its courses on the connections between religious affairs and the humanities, social sciences, and liberal arts. The Master of Arts in Islamic Studies at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane is based in the university's School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Al Akhawayn recently signed a new agreement with the Ministry, and anticipates that approximately 15 new students will start the program each year, with a total of about 50 comprising its student body over the next few years. Students will continue to be admitted on merit, and are expected to demonstrate a solid grounding in traditional Islamic Studies.
“The students who will come through the university in this will be key players in Islamic and religious affairs nationally and internationally,” Monette added. “We are very proud that Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, with its distinctive mission and founding mandate, is part of such an innovative approach to graduate education in Islamic Studies.”
