ASU Barrett Honors College students learn about culture, tradition through study abroad in Morocco and Spain

Traversing the Sahara Desert and learning about traditional Gnaoua music and culture were highlights of a study abroad program for students in Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University this summer.

Barrett Honors College associate teaching professors Alex Young and Mathew Sandoval led the program, titled “Barrett in Morocco and Spain: The Crossroads of Civilization” from June 3–24.

Students earned six honors credits for two courses: Honors 380: Destination Tangier — American Literature’s Encounter with Morocco, led by Young; and Honors 394: The Art of Transformation — Rites of Passage in Theory and Practice, led by Sandoval. The program immersed students in the cultures of these two nations separated by the Strait of Gibraltar, an ancient site of intercultural exchange.

Highlights of the trip included riding camels in the Sahara, visiting the dunes of Erg Chebbi, shopping at a market in Marrakech, and visiting Chefchaouen in Morocco and Granada in Spain.

For Samuel McGee, a journalism major in Barrett Honors College, hearing locals play Gnaoua music in Morocco was an experience he’ll never forget.

“(The) rhythmic claps of castanets, the pounding thumps of the tom-toms and the plucking melody of the gimbri (made me realize) I was experiencing a real slice of the culture that Morocco had to offer,” McGee said.

The trip was part of Barrett’s Global Education Program, which aims to help all Barrett students “embody the values of global citizenship that a holistic education represents.” 

“In my opinion, one of the greatest responsibilities of global citizenship is coming away with an understanding of the places you have traveled to,” McGee said. “This means learning to seek out not just pretty vistas and good weather, but also the local culture, especially in places different from our own.

“In a Barrett study abroad program, what you get is a series of curated experiences where you see beautiful vistas, do tourist activities, have educational opportunities and immerse yourself in the culture of the place you are inhabiting. As a result, you get both ends of the spectrum: fun tourism and actual learning.”

According to Young, one of the strengths of the Barrett study abroad programs is that they allow students to take full advantage of the Barrett faculty’s global networks.

“By connecting my students to scholars and artists I’ve connected with thanks to my transnational teaching and research, I can help students experience aspects of global culture we read about in classes like The Human Event,” Young said.

"The Human Event" is an intensive, interdisciplinary seminar focusing on the development of humanity in its diversity. Students examine human thought from various perspectives, including philosophy, history, literature, religion, science and art. Coursework emphasizes critical thinking, discussion and argumentative writing. 

Coming away from the experience, McGee said he felt he had a much better understanding of North Africa and, as a result, became a better global citizen. 

“After my experiences in Morocco,” he said, “I was reminded of a passage we read in 'The Human Event' by the dramatist Terence, a North African immigrant who lived in the Roman Republic during the second century BCE: ‘I am human; I think nothing human alien to me.’”