909F Spring 2026 Morocco: Working Modern Magic on an Ancient World

909F  Morocco: Working Modern Magic on an Ancient World
One session
Instructor: Joyce Johnston
Thursday, 9:40—11:05, Apr. 23
Morocco offers shining beaches, lush gardens, and exquisite architecture, and a modern Islamic state side by side with ancient marketplaces and donkey carts on interstate highways. How did this grow out of 1800 years of violence, foreign domination, and betrayal after betrayal after betrayal? Once it seemed that the only way to preserve Morocco’s sophisticated culture was to export it to the Moorish Kingdom in Medieval Spain, where its advancements in medicine, hygiene, agriculture, and architecture became a model for the rest of Europe. Then came eviction, chaos, infighting, and finally a French protectorate that only yielded real independence in 1956. Since then, education and legal rights have moved steadily forward, but the social price has been veiled in secrecy. The open question now is: what’s really going on in this supposedly most moderate of Islamic states?
Joyce Johnston’s 2024 visit to Morocco followed one that sparked an OLLI presentation on The Glories and the Mysteries of the Moors in Spain. This session combines the Moors’ turbulent origin story in Morocco with the cultural beauties but secretive government they brought with them into the 21st century. A lifetime of travel as an Army brat gave her a love of unexplored places and a taste for adventure. Now retired from public school teaching after 37 years, she is an adjunct professor at George Mason University.