Portland, Maine (PRWEB) June 25, 2012
University of New England Chair of the Board, Mark Doiron, and Associate Provost for Global Initiatives, Professor Anouar Majid, signed an agreement Friday, June 22, that formalizes UNEs plans to globalize the university with a campus in Morocco. The UNE delegation included President Danielle Ripich and Mike Morel, former chair of the UNE Board.
Doiron and Majid signed the papers on the leafy campus of the American School of Tangier (AST), the oldest American school in Morocco, where UNEs newest campus is slated to open a year from now.
President Ripich states: UNE is preparing students to be innovators, leaders and problem-solvers in our increasingly global society. By establishing a presence in the Moroccan city of Tangier, we are creating the cultural and educational opportunities that make this possible.
Associate Provost Majid said that UNEs presence in Tangier will add a new chapter to the historic friendship that unites the United States and Morocco, and that such a project will build the foundations of a much-needed dialogue between the West and the Muslim world.
U.S. policymakers have been struggling to reach out to the Arab and Muslim worlds, said Majid, but we, at UNE, have decided to live up to our ideals and invest in friendship. Our presence in Tangier, the meeting point of Europe, Africa, and the Arab world, will build trust and allow our students to discover multiple cultures and languages at once.
UNEs new campus is within walking distance to downtown Tangier, the Mediterranean Sea, and the citys beaches, hotels, soon-to-be built marina, and major cultural activities. The city of Tangier is the historic gateway to Morocco, home to an international contingent of painters and writers, and is now emerging as one of the major economic and cultural hubs in the country.
UNEs Tangier campus will house academic programming as well as student and staff residences in buildings that reflect both Moroccos traditional architecture and the high-quality standards of UNEs facilities in Maine.
UNEs unique program is offered at no additional cost to students. UNE students can choose to spend a semester or a full academic year in Morocco, living on campus or with host families while taking courses in the sciences, humanities and languages. Moreover, students can stay on track with their majors curricular requirements by taking lab courses and other classes onsite or online. From Tangier, students can travel to other parts of Morocco, connect with UNEs programs in Spain, and explore other European countries and cities.
To strengthen UNEs presence in Morocco and the region, President Danielle Ripich and Professor Houdaifa Ameziane, the President of University Abdelmalek Essaadi, the main public university system in the province of Tangier, also signed an agreement to explore faculty exchanges, research collaborations and common projects.
With its diverse geography, Morocco is at the crossroads of civilizations and languages. The main cultures of the Mediterranean basin from the Phoenician to the Muslim, the Arab and the Berber, the European and the African have mingled in Morocco to create a colorful and rich society, famous for its world-class cuisine, its kaftans, and its legendary hospitality. A stable and mature nation, Morocco offers an ideal setting to examine some of the major issues facing the world today, such as water scarcity, the future of energy, and the tensions between Islam and the West.
About University of New England
The University of New England is an innovative health sciences university grounded in the liberal arts. UNE has internationally recognized scholars in the liberal arts, sciences, health and medicine; offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs; and is home to Maines only medical school. Its two other distinctive campuses, in Biddeford and Portland, Maine, offer student-centered interprofessional programs in the College of Pharmacy, Westbrook College of Health Professions, College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Graduate Studies. The College of Dental Medicine will enroll its inaugural class in 2013. For more information, visit http://www.une.edu.
