Fullbright-Hayes Grant
Maricopa Community College District (MCCD) has been awarded a Fullbright-Hayes Grant for secondary and post-secondary teachers to go to Morocco and learn about the culture so that course can be taught at both the high school and college levels regarding Moroccan culture and Islam. There are two professors from SCC and two teachers from the Scottsdale Unified School District going in the group.
Over the five weeks, they will visit Casablanca, Fez, Rabat and Marrakech. Lesson plans and course outlines will be done in country and submitted on line prior to returning to the USA. Status reports will be filed with Fullbright-Hayes indicating how the new course work is coming along. Professor Gary Ward is going to be working with a view to add classes to the outstanding and well known Hospitality and Culinary Arts Program at SCC.
Professor John Liffiton who is the ESL Program Coordinator at SCC will be developing an English Class on Arabic literature and contemporary issues along with explaining the benefits of attending SCC to study English as a Second Language.
SCC is the sole community college in the entire United States that has an ESL for Hospitality Program and when the Vice Mayor of Marrakech visited SCC in 2007, he was most interested in the program as the majority of the employees in the hotels and resorts in Morocco don't speak English well. Morocco has a growing tourist industry and English is of the utmost importance. The program/grant coincides with the US State Department's wishes for more interaction with Islamic countries in order to better relations and improve understanding between the two countries.