During the fall and spring semesters, you will have community engagement and internship positions for eight hours each week. These programs allow you to use your language skills and familiarize yourself with the people and culture of Meknes.
During the fall semester, you are required to complete the community engagement component of the Capstone year. Through this experience, you are able to engage in volunteer opportunities that not only enrich and inform your understanding of Morocco, but also enrich the community in which you live. You will find support and guidance with your community engagement coordinator and other Flagship staff at the Arab American Language Institute in Morocco (AALIM). The staff at AALIM has worked hard to build relationships with various organizations in Meknes. You will have ample time to submit your interests to the community engagement coordinator and locate engagement sites on your own throughout the summer semester.
You are required to reach a total of 60 hours for the entire semester (which averages to 5 hours a week if you successfully schedule their time from the beginning of September). You have a lot of freedom in these schedules, but it is important that you focus on consistently arriving at the same times each week.
You are required to complete a final project for community engagement and this can vary greatly according to the site of choice. In the past, projects have taken the form of a clothing-bank at a refugee aid organization, renovating a local Jewish cemetery, leading a lecture series at a community center, etc. You are encouraged to begin thinking about project ideas as early as summer of Capstone year, however you are not required to finalize an idea until the Fall semester. Once you inform the community engagement coordinator of your project plan, you are expected to begin its implementation, having roughly eight weeks to complete your project of choice. In the second half of the semester, you will give a presentation about your community engagement experience in front of your teachers and peers.
Your spring semester gives you the opportunity to participate in a local internship at a variety of organizations. Our students have interned with lawyers; in journalism or craftsmanship; at the community oven, gym, or health clinic; and in Arabic research.
