Project

Fulbright Morocco / International Research & Teaching

Field-based research, language study, teaching, and public-facing academic work carried out in Morocco during 2023-2024.

The Sahara dunes near Merzouga, Morocco — sweeping sand ridges with camels at the base, a landscape tied to mobility and fieldwork. — Merzouga, Morocco — the Sahara edge. Fieldwork during the 2023–24 Fulbright year trained a reading of mobility at multiple scales: roads, routes, archives, airlines, and everyday movement.

My role, areas & skills

Role
Fulbright researcher, language learner, teacher, and public-facing interpreter
Areas
Research / Teaching & Learning / Public Scholarship
Skills
Fulbright, Morocco, Arabic, French, Intercultural work, Public-facing scholarship

The objective

Investigate Moroccan history while developing language skills and working across research and teaching settings.

What I did

Conducted archival research at the Mohammed VI Library in Ifrane.
Combined Arabic and Darija study with history teaching and outward-facing research communication.

Deliverables

Fieldwork dispatches, photography, and historical presentations.
Teaching work and research materials grounded in Moroccan archives and places.

Result

Completed the 2023–24 Fulbright year with a body of fieldwork, teaching, and public communication that informs later North Africa projects.

In motion

A barley field near Azrou in the Middle Atlas — wind moving through the green. Fieldwork travel during the Fulbright year.

The Kasbah of the Udayas above the Bou Regreg, Rabat — the walled quarter where the river meets the Atlantic.

Watch

Documentary footage from the Fulbright year in Morocco.

Morocco & U.S. History: Through the Decades

Event presentation on the arc of U.S.–Morocco relations and historical contact.

Field video from the 2023–24 Fulbright year — Morocco, research, and movement.

Overview

This project frame treats Morocco as a site of language learning, teaching, intercultural work, and research practice.

It matters because it sharpened Reese's ability to work across linguistic, disciplinary, and institutional boundaries during 2023-2024.

What to notice

The Fulbright year combined Arabic study, historical research, classroom teaching, and outward-facing academic communication.

Modern Standard Arabic, Moroccan Darija, French, and Moroccan institutional settings all shaped the work.

Blue fishing boats moored in the Atlantic harbor at Essaouira, Morocco. — Fieldwork / place Essaouira harbor — Atlantic Morocco as a site of movement, trade, and historical circulation.

Illustrated map of the Moroccan Sahara showing the Erfoud, Rissani, Merzouga, and Taouz region, with painted camels, Tuareg figures, and the Hamada de Guir desert plateau labeled in French. — Fieldwork / artifact Painted map of the Sahara border region — Erfoud, Rissani, and Merzouga — documenting research terrain in southeastern Morocco.

An orange cat resting on the sun-warmed rampart wall of Essaouira, with the grey Atlantic Ocean and a rocky breakwater visible behind it. — Atlantic coast / Morocco Essaouira's Atlantic ramparts — the walled city and port that anchors Morocco's connection to the ocean.

Display case at Mohammed VI Library, Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, showing archival materials including postcards, letters, advertisements, vacation photos, and maps from the colonial and postcolonial period. — Archive / Mohammed VI Library Archival materials at Mohammed VI Library, Al-Akhawayn University, Ifrane — postcards, letters, advertisements, vacation photos, maps, and other ephemera from the colonial period. The library holds hundreds of pieces of visual culture from Ifrane's history as a French hill station.

Reese Hollister standing on the campus of Al-Akhawayn University (AUI) in Ifrane, Morocco — a 1930s French colonial hill station, now an English-language university. — Research site / AUI campus Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane — established in the 1930s as a French colonial hill station, today home to the Mohammed VI Library and the archival collections at the center of this research.

Why it matters

The Morocco year strengthened Reese's cross-cultural judgment, sharpened his focus on North Africa, and reinforced a public-facing approach to scholarship that takes explanation seriously.