PROGRAM WEDNESDAY

22 NOVEMBER 2023 | 08AM-06PM

ABDALLAH LAROUI AUDITORIUM

OPENING
8:00-9:00 Registration

8:30-8:55 Opening speeches:

President’s speech
Dean’s Speech
Lab Director’s Speech

9:00-9:45 Keynote Address

Cultural Diversity: A Blessing or a Curse?
Mohamed Benzidan, Hassan II University of Casablanca
CHAIR: Abdelmajid Bouziane

MORNING SESSION I: Cultural Identity between Translation and Construction

CHAIR: Karim Bejjit

9:55-10:10 Cultural translation and the question of Identity

Abdelkader Sabil, Hassan I University, Settat
10:15-10:30 Identity Construction and ISAs Interpellation
Mohamed Ezroura, Mohammed V University in Rabat
10:30-10:45 Discussion

10:45-11:00 Break

MORNING SESSION II: Hegemony and Cultural Revivals

CHAIR: Mohamed Ezroura

11:05-11:20 Cultural Rights: The Global and The Local

Mohamed El Amine Moumine, Hassan II University of Casablanca
11:25-11:40 Morocco’s multicultural turn: From constitutional amendments
to cultural and religious diversity?
Mourad Mkinsi, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra
11:45-12:00 Reflections on citizenship and the question of identity in the
Moroccan context
Karim Bejjit, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetuan
12:05-12:20 Negotiating Moroccan Identity in the Context of Globalization:
A Personal Reflection
Nourdin Bejjit, Mohammed V University in Rabat
12:25-12:40 The Role of Arts Festivals in Safeguarding Intangible Cultural
Heritage: The Case of Essaouira Gnaoua Festival
El Houcine Rabhi & Mohamed El Amine Moumine, Hassan II
University of Casablanca
12:40-13:10 Discussion

13:10-14:15 Lunch Break

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WEDNESDAY
22 NOVEMBER 2023 | 08AM-06PM

AFTERNOON PARALLEL SESSION IA (Laroui Auditorium): Linguistic & Cultural

Diversity
CHAIR: Ayoub Loutfi
14:50-15:05 Competing identify Configurations in Morocco and the
Discursive Construction of Resistance: The Case of Amazighs
in Moroccan Official Curricula
Taoufik Jaafari, Hassan II University of Casablanca & Khalid Said,
Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech
15:10-15:25 Identity in Linguistic Diversity
Abdelaziz Boudlal, Hassan II University of Casablanca
15:30-15:45 The Role of Diversity in Strengthening Cultural Identity in
Morocco
Khalid Lahlou, Hassan II University of Casablanca
15:50-16:10 Discussion

AFTERNOON PARALLEL SESSION IB (Khairi Meeting Room):

Fiction and Identity
CHAIR: Mohamed Benzidan

14:30 – 16:00 Moroccan Identity in a Globalized World

Meeting with Professor and Writer Youssouf Amine Elalamy, Ibn
Tofail University, Kénitra

16:10-16:25 Break

AFTERNOON SESSION II: Politics of Identity and Space

CHAIR: Abdelaziz Boudlal

16:30-16:45 Commemorative street names in Poland as a means of hegemonic

construction of collective memory and national identity
Mariusz Rutkowski, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland
16:50-17:05 The effects of strict language policies on hearer perceptions of the
speakers: Language attitudes towards Kurdish speakers in Turkey
Busra Can, York University, Canada
17:10-17:25 Compliments or Catcalls: A Sociopragmatic Evaluation of
Street Remarks in Morocco
Zineb El Abboubi, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida
17:30-17:45 Identity Politics in Cities and Deserts: A Reading of Spatial
Identity Dichotomy
Fatima-Ezzahra Hnaka & Limame Barbouchi, Ibn Zohr University,
Agadir
17:45-18:05 Discussion

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 THURSDAY
23 NOVEMBER 2023 | 08:30AM-06:15PM
PROGRAM
ABDALLAH LAROUI AUDITORIUM

MORNING SESSION I: Literature and Cultural Diversity

CHAIR: Mohamed Sghir Syad
8:30-8:45 The Body between East and West
Rachid Ben Fares, Hassan II University of Casablanca
8:50-9:05 The Faux-Frère Identity Allegory in and of Francophone
Maghrebian Literature: A Constancy Re-examined in Tahar
Ben Jelloun’s Latest Novel Les Amants de Casablanca
Khalid Majhad, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida
9:10-9:25 Identity Struggles and Cultural Hybridity in Laila Lalami's The
Moor's Account (2014)
Abdelghafour Benlahbib, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida
9:30-9:45 Re-Orientalizing a City: Glimpses of Tangier in Benjelloun’s
Leaving Tangier and Paul Bowles’s Let it Come Down
Ali El Abdelaoui and Khalid Lahlou, Hassan II University of
Casablanca
9:50-10:05 The Discursive Formation of Racial Identities in Popular Romance
Abdelghani Moussaoui & Abdellah Benlamine, Chouaib Doukkali
University, El Jadida
10:10-10:25 Fractured Identities in The New Moroccan Female Novel:
Fusing the Spheres of Gender Expression and Literary Identity
Ikram Ben Talha & Brahim Barhoun, Abdelmalek Essaadi University,
Tetuan
10:25-11:00 Discussion

11:00-11:15 Break

MORNING SESSION II: Multilingualism and identity

CHAIR: Taoufik Jaafari

11:20-11:35 Linguistic Diversity and its Impact on Moroccan Identity(ies)

Anass Laalou,Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra

11:40-11:55 Arabizi in Morocco: Research Scarcity and Challenges

Abdelmajid Bouziane, Hassan II University of Casablanca

12:00-12:15 Geographical and Conceptual Limits within the Little Italy of

Montréal
Fabio Scetti, UQTR/CRIEM McGill University, Montréal, Canada

12:20-12:35 French or English in Higher Education: Moroccan Professors’

Perspectives and Students’ Attitudes in a Culturally
Hegemonic Setting
Rachid Elkhayma & Mohamed Bassim, Hassan II University of
Casablanca

12:35-12:55 Discussion

12:55-14:30 Lunch Break

3
THURSDAY
23 NOVEMBER 2023 | 08:30AM-06:15PM

AFTERNOON SESSION I: Social media and cultural diversity

CHAIR: Meriem Harrizi

14:30-14:45 Women Leadership Identities in Higher Education: The

Intersection between Gender and Culture
Samira Rguibi, Hassan II University of Casablanca

14:50-15:05 Problems of Identity and Cultural Diversity in Arabic-speaking

Cyberspace
Olga Bernikova, St Petersburg University, Russia

15:10-15:25 Reconsidering Gender Roles in Morocco in Light of Fast

Developing Social Media
Chaimae Majdi, International University of Casablanca

15:30-15:45 Multiple Selves, Multiple Worlds Spaced Out for Lack of Roots
Prakash Kona, Independent Scholar, India

15:50-16:10 Arabic Humor and Identity Construction during COVID-19

Rania Habib, Syracuse University, NY, USA

16:10-16:30 Discussion

16:30-16:45 Break

AFTERNOON SESSION II: Disability and Diversity

CHAIR: Khalid Lahlou

16:50-17:05 Disability as Cultural Diversity: Education of PWD through the lens

of Moroccan Legal Documents as a Case
Hajar Ouknider, Hassan II University of Casablanca

17:10-17:25 The Representation of ‘Blindness’ on Moroccan TV Channels

Amine Taswari & Mohamed Kandoussi, Hassan II University of
Casablanca

17:30-17:45 The Impact of Regulating Sexuality on Identity Construction

Youness Bermime, Graduate of Hassan II University of Casablanca

17:45-18:00 Discussion

18:00-18:15 CLOSING CEREMONY

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22-23 Identity in Cultural
NOV, Diversity
2023 I N T E R N A T I O N A L C O N F E R E N C E

Moroccan-American Studies Lab.

Hassan II University of Casablanca.
Benmsik Faculty of Letters & Humanities.
[Link]
Hay El Baraka Av. Errahmouni Boualam, Casablanca 20670
Télèphone: +212 (0) 5 22 70 50 96/97
Fax: +212 (0) 5 22 70 51 00